The Final Addition
by TheDreamChild
Summary: Square Enix and Disney have made great games together in the past, but this time they've gone too far. Is this the third Kingdom Hearts, or is something more sinister at work? Three authoresses and their friends vow to find out. Rated for safety. R&R.
1. Prologue

**A/N: Ehem. For those of you who are wondering, I wrote this prologue up after I published the first few chapters of the story, so the spoiler warnings and disclaimers are in the next chapter. Fear not! I won't put any spoilers in this. I hope you enjoy and I humbly request that, if you can, please review. **

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Four figures stood in a semicircle around the throne, each awaiting their separate orders. Had there been windows in the small room, pale moonlight would have been filtering in. Midnight. The air inside the chamber was rank with anticipation and, just slightly, fear. No one had ever dared create such a dangerous plan before. Because of that, no one would see it coming. Not even those it was meant to destroy – especially not them. That was the whole idea of this swift, silent attack. There would be no warning.

The tallest of the four stirred slightly, the hem of a heavy black cloak brushing the cold stone floor. Amber eyes gleamed from the shadows of the figure's hood. The other three remained still as statues. Only the tall figure was confident enough to appear restless when their lord was present. As it was, the fifth form that was seated on the throne turned his head to stare at his uneasy second-in-command. Bright brown eyes locked on the amber ones, and the tall figure stopped moving.

"We have waited long for this night," the man on the throne said. His voice was soft and quiet, but with a cold undertone that made the other four shiver slightly. The tall one dared to take a step forward.

"Sir, what are your orders?" The voice was barely a whisper and rather gravelly, but distinctly female. The other three glance from the tall one to their leader and back. There was silence for several moments.

"You, my eager comrade, will bring our guests to us. Though for the redheaded one…are you certain your personal feelings won't get in the way?" their leader asked sharply. The tall one bowed dramatically, a vicious smile briefly on her face before she straightened.

"Of course, sir. I will not fail you."

"Good. The rest of you," the leader continued with a stern look towards the other three, "will return to your stations. Be certain that all is in order. Any mistakes could cost us everything, and you all know what would happen then. No punishment I could think of would possibly be worse." The tall figure shuddered and backed away from the throne.

"I shall take my leave now, sir," she informed the leader calmly. He nodded to her, and she vanished in a swirl of dark magic. The other three bowed deeply.

"Sir," one of them said excitedly, "We won't disappoint you!"

"Hmph. Let's just hope nothing gets in our way that we can't handle," another one added dryly. The shortest member of the group nodded uncertainly. Their leader eyed them all.

"Go." The three bowed again and vanished like the first, in a whirl of black smoke and dark magic. The leader stayed where he was for several more minutes, thinking. Then he slowly rose from his chair and left the room.

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**A/N: I'm sorry, that was really **_**really**_** short for a prologue. The next chapters are considerably longer. This was just a taster. Hopefully some people will read and enjoy, and maybe even review. –Poke- Please? I know it turns into a shameless self-insert, but I swear it's no Mary-Sue. It would make my day if some people actually kept reading and reviewed to let me know if they like it! Yes, yes, I'm begging. I'll shut up now. **


	2. Phone Calls

**A/N: As promised, the sequel to Randomishedishness. However, this is PotC x FFVII rather than a jumble of everything (though I must admit just about every popular fandom is mentioned – especially Kingdom Hearts).**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pirates of the Caribbean, Final Fantasy VII, or any other fandoms mentioned. The characters Aki, Amaya, Ayame, and Sakura are all based on real people (my four best friends) and are used with permission from those people. Likewise, the characters Mer and Cap'n are both used with permission (thanks guys!).**

**WARNING: There are major plot spoilers for the following games and movies: Final Fantasy VII (including Dirge of Cerberus, Advent Children, Last Order, Before Crisis, and some speculation about Crisis Core), Pirates of the Caribbean (DMC and CotBP), Kingdom Hearts I & II, and I think that's about it…READ AT YOUR OWN RISK. You have been warned. **

* * *

Inwë rolled over in her sleep and mumbled something inaudible. Her short blonde hair was mussed and tangled, and she hadn't changed into nightclothes, so she was still in the jeans and shirt she had been wearing the evening before. It had to be about six in the morning, though the sun hadn't quite penetrated the curtains over Inwë's windows. Her room was a mess – the computer desk in one corner was covered in books, papers, and empty root beer cans. She had managed to keep the floor "clean", meaning there were only about four stacks of books scattered about and it was still possible to reach her small closet without breaking a leg. But what did she care? It was summer, and she intended to sleep in. Fate did not agree with her.

The phone on Inwë's bedside table suddenly began ringing. It was loud, obnoxious, and entirely impossible to sleep through. Raven, a half-demon friend of Inwë's, had made sure of that when she bought it shortly after the authoress' random return a year ago. As soon as the wailing noise had sounded, Inwë sat straight up in bed and peered around groggily. Once the fog had cleared from her vision she turned her head and glared at the phone. She briefly considered smashing it into small pieces, but thought better of it. Raven would have killed her. Irritably picking it up, Inwë stumbled out of bed and threw open her curtains.

"Yeah?" she asked as she stifled a yawn.

Down the hall, in the living room, Raven and Cora, Inwë's new muse, were enjoying a cup of tea together. When the phone rang, they both looked up. Cora gave Raven an uncertain look.

"Should we answer it?" she asked, her green eyes wide. Raven shook her head. Cora had a sweet personality, unlike Inwë's old muse, but she was young and still considered an apprentice muse. That meant she had an awful lot to adjust too, especially Inwë's apparent insanity.

"Let it wake her up. We won't have to if it does."

"Oh," Cora replied with a note of understanding in her voice. From Inwë's room, they could hear the muffled sounds of the conversation. There was silence for a few seconds, and then…

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, THEY'RE ALL MISSING?" Raven winced slightly. Cora just looked confused. The half-demon sighed deeply and stood up, walked over to the phone, and put it on speaker so she and Cora could listen in.

"Please try to calm down," ordered a male voice, "I'd prefer it if you remained _mostly_ sane."

"How could I stay sane through all this?" Inwë asked. Her voice sounded hoarse.

"Listen, Inwë, because I'm only going to ask you once: come down to the 7th Heaven, and together we'll see if we can figure out what's happened."

"No way. I'm _not_ going to be your bodyguard just because you're scared. I'll find them on my own, thank you very much!" Inwë snarled. Raven thought she was going to hang up, but there was only a brief pause.

"Rufus, I want to know _exactly_ what happened. It's important," the authoress growled at last. Raven blinked slowly. _Rufus Shinra?_ What was he doing, calling Inwë for help?

"Fine," Rufus snapped, "I'll explain, so try to pay attention. This morning, none of the Turks showed up for work. I expect no better from Reno and Rude, but I've never known Tseng to be late. I tried calling them but got no answer, so I drove down to the 7th Heaven to see if anyone there knew anything. Those two kids who live there -."

"_Denzel_ and _Marlene_," Inwë said through clenched teeth.

"- Yes, Denzel and Marlene. They were both there, but the boy – Denzel – said he had been calling everyone he knew and never got an answer except for that girl from the Tsviets, Shelke." There was another long pause. Raven left Cora to listen in from the living room. She crept towards Inwë's room and opened the door a crack. The authoress was standing with her back to the door, staring out the window in a daze.

"All gone…and you have no idea who kidnapped them? That seems awfully suspicious to me, Rufus!" Inwë suddenly snapped, striding over to her desk and rummaging through the papers. Rufus must have said something, because the authoress let out another low growl.

"Do _not_ talk to me like you're my boss! I'll get to the 7th Heaven in my own damn time, you got that?" She angrily turned the phone off and chucked it onto her bed. She hissed and went over to her closet, where she pulled out a few items – a white dress shirt, black cargo pants, her prized Doc Martins, and a long black coat with a hood. Before she had even finished, the phone rang again. Inwë swore under her breath and dove for it. She pressed the "talk" button and was about to yell at the caller, when…

"WILL'S GONE!" wailed the distraught voice of Mer, a fellow authoress of Inwë's. She held the phone a foot away from her ear for a minute while Mer continued to shriek about "thieves" and "tricksie hobbitses".

"Mer! Calm down!" Inwë ordered after a while. Once the screaming had stopped, she tentatively pressed the phone back to her ear.

"Inwë, I don't know what to do! My pet has been stolen! I am in a state of insanity!" Mer continued to sob.

"My bodyguards have all been kidnapped, so the feeling is mutual."

"What? You mean Cloud and Reno and Vincent are _all_ gone?"

"It's not that simple. Rufus Shinra called me just before you did. He says every canon character from _Final Fantasy VII_ and the Compilation – except Shelke, Denzel, and Marlene – is missing," Inwë explained much more calmly than she felt. There was an awkward silence.

"I don't know who half of those characters are, but there has to be a connection between the two disappearances," Mer said.

"Maybe. I'm heading over to the 7th Heaven after I make a few calls. Want me to have Cap'n pick you up? I think she'll want in on this."

"Okay! I will pack cookies and see if I can catch a plot bunny for luck!"

"Sure. Oh, and Mer," the authoress added, "Don't bring your other pets. I have a bad feeling about this and it might be better if they stayed home."

"Awww, man! That's no fun!" Mer whined unhappily.

"Hey, you want to look for Will or not?"

"Okay, okay. I'll see you later."

"Yep." Inwë hung up and gathered her things, pausing for a moment to add another paper from her desk to the collage on her bulletin board. She almost ran smack into Raven as she exited the room. The two exchanged dark looks.

"Were you listening to my entire conversation?" Inwë asked mildly. Raven shrugged.

"Just the one with Rufus. I couldn't hear the other one."

"Whatever. I need a shower." The authoress swept past her friend and into the bathroom. Raven, in the meantime, went back to Cora. The two talked about the events unfolding before them for a while. Eventually, Inwë stalked into the room. Her hair was still wet, half of it "hiding" the right side of her face. After she had returned home a year ago, she had cut her hair and now had an obsession with making it look like Kadaj's. She had stopped short of dyeing it silver, but the wistful looks she sometimes got made Raven suspicious. On top of the change in hairstyle, Inwë had also gotten stronger since she had started exploring the realms on her own (which often involved combat). All the hard work and practice had given Inwë some muscle – a year ago she had been weak and useless in battle, but now she stood some chance. She was taller, too, and had filled out nicely instead of being underweight. Raven thought all of it was because she had found some true purpose in life: the authoress had devoted herself to finding out all she could about "Project G" and its relationship to the Nibelheim incident. The gusto with which she researched was almost frightening.

"Want something to eat before you go?" Cora asked kindly. Inwë shook her head and draped her coat over a chair in the kitchen.

"I have to call Cap'n and my friends. They'll want to know about this right away," she replied. She dragged herself over to the counter where her cell phone was charging and unplugged it. She flipped it open and dialed Cap'n's number, hoping the other authoress was awake.

"Uh-huh?" murmured a sleepy voice after three rings.

"Hey, Cap'n. I've got some bad news. Rufus and Mer just called me. It seems Will Turner and most of the _Final Fantasy VII_ characters have gone missing."

"_What_? How is that…? Is that even possible? Who would do that?"

"That's what we want to find out. Rufus is meeting me at the 7th Heaven. I assume you'll be there, so can you pick up Mer on the way?"

"Yeah, I'll be there in a bit. By the way, is Norrington all right?" Inwë moaned and covered her eyes with one hand.

"He and Charlie went out to the local pub last night. I forget to check to see if they got back or not…"

"Well," Cap'n said seriously, "If Will's missing _and_ Norrington's missing, then I sense a conspiracy."

"What kind of conspiracy?" Inwë asked suspiciously. She had a nagging feeling that she knew what Cap'n was going to say.

"The worst kind, of course: one we can't do anything about." With that she hung up. Inwë stared blankly at the phone in her hand. As if on cue, Charlie stumbled down the stairs and into the kitchen, followed by Sirius (still trapped in dog form). The authoress rounded on Charlie as Sirius sat down next to her.

"Where's Norrington?" she demanded angrily. Charlie sat down at the counter and blinked.

"Uh…he met a cute redhead in the bar…said she needed to talk to him…went outside. Didn't see him after tha'…" he slurred, obviously suffering from a nasty hangover. Inwë stopped short of scolding him for it.

"I've got two more calls to make and then I'm leaving. You two," she added, turning to Cora and Raven, "Hold down the fort while I'm gone. If Norrington or any other kidnap victims show up, call me. If you can't reach my cell, call the 7th Heaven. Savvy?"

"Yes, we understand," Raven replied, "But you should eat something. You're going into the realms. You'll need your strength if you get sick." Inwë glared at her. The comment had touched a nerve, though Raven hadn't meant it cruelly.

"I'll get something there, all right? Now I have to call my friends…" The authoress grabbed her black coat again and went off to finish getting ready to go.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry it was so short! The next one will be longer, I promise. **


	3. Discussion

**A/N: Okay, here we go with chapter two…please enjoy! **

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There were plenty of things Inwë loved about the _Final Fantasy VII_ realm, but one of the things on the top of her list was the fact that she could ride a motorcycle (legally, since she was finally old enough). Hers wasn't as stylish or cool looking as Cloud's, being of a more standard nature and resembling a "real" bike, but it got the job done and made the drive from Kalm to Edge much more fun.

Inwë slowed down as she approached the town of Edge. The sky was cloudy – not unusual for the area surrounding Midgar – and the plant life in the area was only just starting to grow back, so the bike stirred up little clouds of dust as the authoress drove by. The town itself was oddly quiet, though not as quiet as it had been a few months ago when Deepground had surfaced. Inwë didn't like it at all. She drove as quickly as she dared towards the 7th Heaven, not surprised when she saw two cars and another motorcycle parked outside. She pulled up next to the other bike and turned hers off, twirling the keychain around her fingers before putting it in one of her many pockets.

Inside the bar, Rufus, Shelke, and Amaya were seated at the bar, while Aki, Sakura, Ayame (formerly known as Shaedan), Denzel, and Marlene were spread around the room at various tables. Amaya spun around in her chair and shook her head as Inwë walked in.

"Wow, am I really this late?" the authoress wondered aloud, giving her friends bewildered looks. Aki rolled her eyes.

"Yes. Sit down," she ordered, brushing a strand of her black hair out of her eyes. Inwë blinked at her and obediently took a seat at one of the tables. No one said anything.

"Mer and Cap'n should be here soon," Inwë said in an attempt to break the silence. Rufus shot her a dark look over his shoulder, which she returned.

"Yeah, they called about five minutes ago to let us know they're coming," Amaya replied. Just then there was a screech of tires and a truck pulled into the driveway. Car doors slammed, footsteps approached, and the door burst open. Two teenage girls stood on the threshold. One was about 5'4", had dishwater blonde hair and dark sunglasses, which clashed with her _Pirates of the Caribbean _hoodie. The other was also 5'4", with light brown hair and darker brown eyes, camouflage-patterned cargo pants, and a black t-shirt with wolves on the front. Both girls had cutlasses sheathed at their sides. The brown-haired one gave Inwë an odd look.

"Is that an Organization coat?" she asked bluntly. The authoress grinned proudly and dusted off the sleeves of her black hooded coat.

"Yep."

"How did you get it?"

"Stole Riku's, of course. We were about the same height at the time, but since then I've had to use my powers to tailor it." The blonde teen stared blankly at her companion.

"I don't understand a word of this, so can we just cut to the chase and go save Will?" she asked, fingering the hilt of her cutlass.

"Introductions first, rescue missions second," Inwë informed her briskly. She got up from the table and cleared her throat dramatically. Amaya rolled her eyes and sipped on her root beer, awaiting the theatrics that usually accompanied Inwë and her speeches.

"Gents, this is Mer -." She pointed to the blonde teen. "- And Cap'n." The brown-haired teen waved. Inwë grinned at the two of them and gestured towards her other friends.

"This is Aki, Sakura, Ayame, and Amaya," she continued, nodding to each one in turn, "And Cap'n, you know Rufus and the kids." Denzel smiled weakly and Marlene blushed. Rufus eyed the two authoresses with indifference. Shelke coughed.

"Oh, sorry Shelke. This is Shelke, formerly of the Tsviets." Mer looked confused.

"What are the Tsviets?"

"Don't ask," Shelke and Inwë replied in unison. The group spent a few more minutes shaking hands and exchanging greetings. Everyone but Rufus seemed to get along well with everyone else, which was a relief. Things would go more smoothly if there were cooperation betwixt the assembled authors.

"And now that we all know each other, can we _please_ get going? The more time we waste, the more danger our friends are in," Amaya pointed out after she figured things had gone on long enough. Inwë saluted and sat down at a table in the center of the room. Mer and Cap'n slid into chairs at neighboring tables, artfully managing not to send anything flying as they did so. Inwë wasn't so lucky – she knocked a soda off the table by mistake and the sticky liquid splattered the hem of her coat. She wrinkled her nose in disgust and cleaned up the mess with her powers.

"What do we know so far?" Ayame inquired, ignoring the mishap, as she took out a spare notebook so she could keep track of the evidence.

"Almost every _Final Fantasy VII _character seems to be missing," Aki drawled.

"Will Turner and Commodore Norrington are gone, too," Sakura added sourly. Ayame made a note in her notebook. Mer whimpered.

"That indicates the culprit is from the 'outside', and powerful too," Cap'n mused. Inwë gave her a wide-eyed look and leaned forward in her chair. By "outside", Cap'n meant someone outside the realms. The number of people from the "outside" who could so directly affect the realms was limited. Unless…

"Maybe another author?" Inwë wondered nervously.

"No," Cap'n replied sagely, "A normal author has no power over canon itself. We don't actually change canon when we write, much less make canon characters vanish into thin air." The assembly paused for thought while Ayame wrote down the information. _Scribble, scribble, scribble._

"Charlie said something about Norrington meeting a redheaded woman in the pub the night he disappeared!" Inwë exclaimed randomly. The others gave her horrified looks.

"A Sue…? A SUE STOLE WILL?" Mer shrieked in a moment of panic. Ayame stopped writing to assist Aki in trying to calm down the other authoress. It only worked a little.

"I wouldn't trust too much of what Charlie says," Amaya said once everyone was mostly sane, "He's been a little out of it ever since Inwë kidnapped him and went to war with the producers. I still have nightmares about that siege…"

"Hey! What else was I supposed to do? They were gonna kill him!" Inwë protested indignantly. _Scribble, scribble, scribble._ "Don't write that stuff down! It's bad enough that the producers almost sued me, so don't give them more evidence."

"Focus on the problem at hand," Rufus snapped moodily from the bar, "Did this redhead say anything to your friend?"

"Not that he remembers. He's got a bad hangover, but I think he might have been drugged, too. I questioned him before I left and he doesn't remember a thing about what happened after Norrington and the woman went outside to talk," Inwë answered grimly. She didn't have the patience to ignore Rufus when he asked a good question. She'd just end up waiting for someone else to ask the same thing so she could answer without acknowledging Rufus' existence.

"We have to track her down. Do you think Charlie will remember more as time goes by?" Sakura inquired. Inwë shrugged.

"Maybe, but…"

"That's the only lead we have so far, so now let's think: who would want to kidnap these people, and why?" Amaya asked sharply.

"We can narrow that down a bit. Who would have the _ability_ to kidnap these people?" Cap'n put in. The group sat and thought about it for a while, Ayame still writing away, until Inwë got an idea.

"I've got it! Who controls what is considered canon?"

"Square Enix, for _Final Fantasy_, and Disney for _Pirates_," Mer speculated, "But why would they…?" Horror lit up the faces of Cap'n and Inwë. Amaya gave them one of her half-suspicious, half-concerned looks that she got when she had an idea about what was going on but wasn't sure.

"They can't!" Cap'n gasped.

"They wouldn't!" Inwë agreed. Their friends stared at them quizzically.

"We need a computer," Inwë snapped, "If they did what I think they did, they would have announced it by now." The bewildered looks had not gone away, but Shelke had the good sense to bring out her new laptop. After ten minutes Inwë and Cap'n found what they were looking for on a news website:

_Rumors of a third Disney-Square Enix co-op game have surfaced, but they are not what many fans were expecting. Disney and Square Enix have announced that the final additions of two of their most popular franchises – _Final Fantasy VII _and_ Pirates of the Caribbean _– will be combined into one online role-playing game called _Final Voyage_. Many characters from both series will be featured, including the ever-popular Captain Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann, Cloud Strife, Tifa Lockhart, Vincent Valentine, Reno, and Rude. Tetsuya Nomura, director and head designer of the game, has refused to comment on whether or not this will be a spin-off of the popular _Kingdom Hearts_ series. _

"_Honki nano_?" Inwë demanded in Japanese. Aki poked her to remind her not to slip into a language that not everyone present could understand.

"Sorry," the authoress apologized, "I just can't believe this. There's going to be a fan rebellion if we don't do something!"

"What can we do?" Amaya asked slowly, "They're the bosses, they get to decide what's canon."

"This is over the top, though," Cap'n argued, "Something is definitely out of place here." Everyone murmured his or her agreement. Mer slammed her fist down on the table.

"I may not know much about _Final Fantasy_, but I'll do anything I can to save Will and find out what's going on here!" she vowed.

"Aye!" Cap'n and the others chorused. Rufus rolled his eyes.

"Before you all go rushing off, don't forget that someone is going to have to stay with these children," he said in a bored tone, nodding towards Denzel and Marlene.

"We can take care of ourselves!" Denzel shouted angrily. Amaya and Ayame shook their heads.

"Well…I'll volunteer to stay and baby-sit," Ayame said quietly. Amaya ran her fingers through her light blonde hair and sighed.

"I'm the only one over eighteen, so I'll stay and keep an eye on the bar."

"I'm going to need a bodyguard if these people decide to go after me," Rufus said with a scowl. He didn't like trusting these people, especially since they were friends with Inwë. The authoress had cut a deal with Rufus that kept him off her hit list, but that didn't mean one of her comrades wouldn't try to kill him.

"Stay here. We'll make sure you're not dragged off," Amaya said unenthusiastically. She liked Rufus about as much as Inwë did.

"But I'm the head of a company. If I'm going to maintain order I'll have to go back to the office," Rufus retorted.

"I volunteer to go with Mer and Inwë and Cap'n!" Sakura said quickly as she sensed danger. Aki opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by Inwë's sly intervention.

"Aki-chan will be your bodyguard!"

"NO," Aki refused. There was no way. She simply wouldn't. No. Not happening.

"You have to. For the good of the world!"

"But -."

"Remember the spirit of the Turks!"

"But -."

"C'mon, it'll be fun." Inwë gave Aki one of her best puppy-eyed pleading looks. The other teen caved in and grudgingly agreed to be Rufus' bodyguard until the Turks were returned. After that was settled, the group once more fell to plotting while they drank soda (plots are best made when there's plenty of sugar present). Destroying the producers would not help restore canon, so that was out of the question. Investigative work would only help to a certain extent. What they needed was some hands-on information from inside the game itself. The hard part would be getting it. There was no official release date, and if they waited until then there would be little they could do to help. The only option seemed to be finding a way to hack into the game, but even that was risky and difficult.

"I wish this was like the Matrix," Ayame said sadly as she crossed out another idea from the list in her notebook, "We could jump into the game itself and work our way into the system." Inwë, who had been resting with her head on the table, suddenly sat up.

"That's a perfect idea! Why didn't I think of it before? Shelke, is it possible for people besides you to jump into networks?" Shelke thought for a moment and nodded uneasily.

"There would be a risk of permanent brain damage, but I think I could stabilize things to the point where that is no longer a problem. However, we must take into account that I no longer have access to operating equipment…" she replied in her flat, emotionless voice. Inwë, Mer, and Cap'n glanced at each other.

"Do you think we could create some equipment?" Mer asked.

"Sure we could!" Cap'n answered a little too confidently.

"I dunno," Inwë replied uncertainly, "We're not exactly rocket scientists, and our powers can only make up for so much…"

"Try it anyway," Amaya ordered them bleakly, "We don't have any other options. There's a back room you could probably use. I doubt Tifa would mind, and you'd be nearby in case something goes wrong."

"In the meantime, I'll call Raven and ask her to do a blood test on Charlie to see what he was drugged with. It might narrow down our search," Sakura offered. There were more murmurs of agreement and Cap'n, Mer, and Inwë set off for the back room. Shelke went with them to supervise their efforts at creating advanced technological equipment using only their author powers. It was going to be a long day.


	4. Entry

"You know, we might just have to start a business making these things."

"Hold that thought until _after_ we make sure they work."

"But you have to admit, it would be a good business."

"Cap'n, _Shinra_ made the last of these. They can't be good for you."

"Yeah, but…" Cap'n was standing in front of the shiny technological equipment she, Mer, and Inwë had just finished creating. Inwë was leaning against the far wall, next to the door, watching as Shelke went over the equipment and made certain everything was in place. Mer was busy spinning around and around in a computer chair.

"Well, Shelke, how does it look?" Inwë inquired in an effort to take Cap'n's mind off her new idea. Shelke straightened up and eyed the authoress.

"Although crude, I am fairly certain that they are usable," she replied. Once upon a time, Shelke's emotionless voice had unnerved Inwë to no end. By now she had gotten used to it. Judging from Mer's slight wince, no one else had.

"Okay, so are we set?" Mer asked hopefully as she finally stopped spinning. Inwë was surprised to see that she didn't look like she was going to throw up.

"Yes. However, you three should take weapons with you. I am unsure how this will work, but I think the weapons would transfer with you into the system," Shelke responded.

"In English?" Sakura asked as she randomly poked her head around the corner. Inwë gave her a you-know-I-don't-like-it-when-you-sneak-up-on-people look and stalked over to the computers that Shelke had turned her attention to.

"She meant," Cap'n translated, "That if we have our weapons on us, they might just get zapped into the game when we do."

"Oh! That sounds cool! Can I help?" Sakura asked excitedly. Shelke gave her a blank look.

"Do you know how to operate a computer?"

"Of course I do! Even though Aki always _steals it_ before I can go on."

"Poor little Remnant," Inwë muttered dryly. Sakura glared at her.

After a few more minutes of checking and rechecking the computers until Shelke was satisfied with them, Mer and the others headed back into the main room of the 7th Heaven, where they had left their weapons while they worked on the equipment. Inwë immediately made a beeline for her katana. It was the same one she had used a year ago in her fight against the Mouth of Sauron. Nothing had really changed about it in a year, except that Inwë had finally managed to get the bloodstains off of it. Once she picked up her blade, she pulled it out of its sheath and ran a finger along the edge. It was sharp. She looked around for Rufus so she could grin evilly at him, but it seemed he and Aki had already left. Inwë sighed and shrugged, once more slipping the sword into its scabbard. After that, she only had two more weapons: a small dagger that fit nicely in her boot and a handful of shuriken that she was not very skilled with. Meanwhile, Mer and Cap'n were checking their cutlasses. Mer pulled out a double-action revolver that Inwë couldn't remember having ever seen her use and made sure the safety was on. She smiled as she saw the authoress watching her.

"You never know."

"I just hope you're a good shot." Mer's smile became more savage, which Inwë took to mean, "You bet I am." Cap'n coughed loudly to get their attention and to snap Mer out of her daze.

"Ok, are we all set?" she asked cheerfully. Mer and Inwë nodded solemnly. Just then, Amaya glided into the room, carrying her own katana. When she saw the uneasy look Inwë gave her, she shook her head.

"I'll have my hands full taking care of the bar. This is just in case those creeps who kidnapped Vincent show up," she explained. Inwë relaxed slightly. Adding members to their group at the last second would be unwise.

"So…are you sure you'll be able to hack into a game that doesn't even technically exist yet?" Amaya asked skeptically. _Great,_ Inwë thought moodily, _By all means, bring up all the flaws in our plan just before we leave._ Amaya gave her a look and the authoress realized she had been thinking out loud.

"Sorry."

"I'm just worried. Now, for my question…"

"Shelke thinks it will work because Square and Disney will be doing program tests, kind of like Beta Testing. We can get in if we're careful, and once we're in we'll stay in until we want to leave," Cap'n answered simply. Amaya nodded.

"All right. Be careful, guys. And bash a few heads for me." She winked and walked off to check on Ayame and the kids. Inwë watched her go with the unpleasant feeling that they wouldn't see each other for a while.

In the back room, Inwë, Mer, and Cap'n nervously settled into the three chairs that they had created. Shelke and Sakura were seated at the nearby computer system, pressing buttons and getting prepared to send the three authoresses into an unknown video game. Inwë was too busy reminding herself that this wouldn't be like _The Matrix_ to keep an eye on them. After a few moments' quiet conversation with Sakura, Shelke spun her chair around and stood up. She was very short, so it didn't make much of a difference.

"Please try to remember that your author's powers will be useless in this realm," she warned them, "And be prepared for the worst. We don not know who is behind this, so they could be preparing a trap. If you need to reach us, use this phone." She handed Inwë a plain black cell phone.

"Worst case scenario," Sakura put in, "is that everything is canon, in which case we're all going to get sued for interfering."

"Thank you, Sakura, that was really inspiring," Inwë murmured. She leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes, trying to focus on something peaceful. Her thoughts kept going back to her missing bodyguards. Mer, too, seemed on edge, obviously anxious over Will's safety. Cap'n was a little harder to read – she appeared concerned, but not panicky. Inwë wondered how she managed it.

"All right. Do you see those helmets? Put them on," Shelke ordered. Inwë obeyed. She went through the rest of the preparations in a kind of daze.

Once things were in place, Shelke went back to the computer. Inwë couldn't see her because of the stupid helmet thingy she was wearing, but she listened to the pattering of keys being pressed.

"Get ready," Sakura told them. A few seconds later, Inwë had the odd sensation of falling. No, it wasn't really falling – more like how it feels when your airplane lands. She felt her senses adjusting and rewiring as her mind was pulled into the network. Her whole body slowly went numb, then snapped back. Everything was dark. Inwë wished she could hear or see her two companions. Suddenly, the airplane-landing feeling was replaced with an oh-crap-I'm-falling-out-of-the-plane-without-a-parachute feeling…

* * *

Amaya stood by the door and listened while Ayame tried to comfort a very upset and scared Marlene. The poor child was coming out of the initial shock of her "family" going missing and was entering the panicked, terrified stage of recovery.

"But Tifa…and Cloud…and Daddy!" Marlene was sobbing. Amaya looked around the corner. Denzel was nowhere to be seen. Ayame was sitting next to Marlene, who was crying, and had an arm wrapped around her shoulder.

"Hey, it'll be all right. Our friends will rescue them in no time!" she said, trying to be encouraging. Marlene sniffed and rubbed at her eyes.

"B-but Mr. Shinra said they were gone for good!" she whimpered. Amaya groaned under her breath. That guy seemed to making a living off of making everyone else depressed.

"Rufus doesn't know what he's talking about," Ayame assured Marlene kindly. The little girl sniffed again.

"Really?"

"Of course he doesn't. He never does. He said your dad would never be able to help save the planet, and look how wrong he was!" Amaya smiled softly to herself. Good old Ayame always knew what to say to make other people feel better. Not feeling like staying hidden any longer, Amaya rounded the corner and smiled at Marlene.

"Hey, are you doing ok?" she asked kindly. Marlene took in a deep breath and nodded, forcing herself to smile weakly.

"I'll be ok. But…they'll be all right, won't they?"

"Definitely. If I know those guys, they'll have escaped long before Cap'n and Inwë and Mer even find them." Marlene laughed a little. Ayame gently patted her on the back and sighed.

"So…want to help me make some lunch?"

"Yeah!"

* * *

Inwë slowly began to regain consciousness. She noticed, as her head cleared, that she was lying on her stomach. Grass was tickling her face. Something felt weird. Her shoulders were sore, and she couldn't feel her coat. _Must has fallen off when I fell…or was I falling?_ she thought sluggishly. She managed to raise her head a few inches and opened her eyes. Mer was laying on her back a few feet away, her sunglasses clutched in one hand. Inwë turned her head the other way and saw Cap'n, also out cold, was curled up with her back against a tree. _Trees. Grass. Forest. Clearing. _The pieces slowly fell together. They had made it.

Something still didn't feel right. Inwë used her hands to push herself into a sitting position. Her shoulders really started to ache. She felt like she was wearing her coat, or a backpack. She looked around and spotted her coat a few feet away. She started to stand up to walk towards it, but she almost toppled over backwards.

"What the -?" she said as she turned her head to try and see what was weighing her down. Her eyes got wide, then narrowed again, as she saw the culprit. _Don't panic, _she told herself, _Figure out what the hell is going on before you start fainting, ok? _She slowly took a few deep breaths and stumbled over to where Mer was. She gently poked her friend's shoulder. The other authoress stirred and moaned.

"Are we here?" she whispered as she slowly woke up.

"Yeah. Something isn't -." She stopped as she saw that Mer, too, had something "wrong" with her. Mer must have noticed too, because she scratched her head.

"It's weird, but I can hear everything really -." She broke off as her fingers brushed against something. Her eyes got as wide as Inwë's had been a few seconds ago.

"How -?"

"No idea. Don't scream in my ears just yet, ok?"

"Ok. How's Cap'n?" Inwë glanced over her shoulder towards her third friend, who was just opening her eyes. She yawned, stretched, and spotted the other two.

"What happened to _you_ two?" she demanded.

"Take a look at yourself before you ask that," Mer said blankly. Cap'n looked around uncertainly for a mirror, but settled for just running her hands over her face and arms and such. Her eyes didn't get as wide as the others', but they still got pretty big when she found what was "wrong".

"What is Square up to?" she wondered aloud. Inwë was impressed that she sounded more interested than worried.

"Beats me," Mer sighed. She looked at Inwë, who was avoiding their gaze.

"What's wrong?"

"This," Inwë replied unhappily. She slowly lifted the pair of dark grey wings she had woken up with. Mer tipped her head to one side, one white wolf ear perked forward and the other tilted to the side. Cap'n yawned again, and scratched at the soft brown cat ears on her own head. Something was definitely wrong.

"I'm calling Shelke. Maybe something went wrong when we jumped in here," Cap'n said without much worry in her tone. Inwë shrugged and handed her the cell phone. _Easy for them to be all chipper, _the authoress thought gloomily, _since they didn't wake up and find out they're sharing a trait with…_ She forced her thoughts to trail off before she made them a reality.

"Hey, Shelke? Yep, we made it! Something's up, though. Is there a glitch somewhere that we don't know about?" Cap'n paused as Shelke began asking questions. "No, we're all fine…but, uh, we're a little different. Mer's got wolf ears and a tail -."

"Huh? Wha? I HAVE A TAIL?"

"- I've got cat ears and a tail, and Inwë's got wings. What? You mean this was _supposed_ to happen? When did you figure _that_ out? Yeah. Yes. Uh-huh. Ok, bye." Cap'n growled softly in annoyance and turned off the phone, tossing it at Inwë. She overbalanced trying to catch it and toppled over. Mer, who was too busy turning in fast circles trying to spot her tail, didn't help her up. Inwë irritably climbed to her feet, swayed slightly under the unnatural weight, and slowly regained her balance. She was leaning forward a little to counter the backwards pull of gravity on her wings, so she looked like an old woman with a bad back. Quite the sight. Inwë reached one hand over her shoulder and felt the base of her wings, where the feathers and bone met her skin. There were slits in the back of her shirt were the wings were poking through. She sighed and reached down for her coat, almost overbalancing again, and slowly started trying to fold her wings.

"And what," she snapped when she was stable, "did Shelke have to say about this?"

"I HAVE A TAIL! I HAVE A TAIL! GET IT OFF!"

"Mer! Cool it!"

* * *

**A/N: -ducks- Don't hurt me! If you don't like what I've done, well…you _did _say I could play with your characters to suit the needs of the story…I apologize, Mer, if I make you seem more of a…how should I put it…insane fangirl than Cap'n and I. That gets changed soon (honestly, do you think I can keep Cap'n acting serious for more than three chapters? It's not natural!), so it'll balance out. **


	5. The Forest

**A/N: Don't give me that look, guys. **

**Disclaimer: I am a penniless wanderer too hell-bent on Shinra's destruction to save up enough to buy any major companies, so I own nothing except my own character. **

* * *

"So…this is the catch that comes with entering this world," Inwë mused after Cap'n had finished relating what Shelke had told her, "Any player – meaning us – who plays the game winds up with…_unusual_ features."

"Aye, that be savvy," Cap'n agreed with an annoyed sigh. She glanced over at Mer, who was curled up into a ball and was whimpering like a lost puppy. She had not taken the shock of having a tail too well. Cap'n had taken it in stride – after some of the crazy adventures she'd been on, it would have been surprising if she hadn't. Inwë was still in a daze, though for very different reasons than Mer was. She shifted uncomfortably as she rested with her back against a tree. She had figured out how to fold her wings enough to get her coat on over them, but it wasn't much fun. Still…she preferred hiding her wings to letting everyone see them. What would Cloud say if he saw her? Or Sephiroth, if he was in this realm? Inwë didn't want to know.

"Now where do we go?" the authoress asked no one in particular.

"How about we look around for a chest and hope it has a map of the area inside, like in _Kingdom Hearts_," Cap'n said with a broad grin. Inwë managed to chuckle. Mer twitched.

"Tails…precious…we doesn't needs them…no, precious…wolves, they has tails…foxes and monkeys and birdsies…precious…tails…doesn't _wants_ them, precious!" she muttered to herself in a disturbingly realistic Gollum voice. The other two stared at her for a while as she kept going on and on.

"Whatever we do, we're going to have to get Mer back into a sane state of mind first," Inwë said. Cap'n nodded and thought for a while. Eventually she began humming "He's A Pirate" under her breath. Mer twitched again, her eyes wide, and was suddenly silent.

"WE MUST SAVE WILL, MY PRECIOUS!" she screamed after about thirty seconds. Then she howled. It was frightening to sit there and watch a traumatized girl with wolf ears and a tail make a cry like that. Inwë, who was already leaning against a tree, backed up as far as she could. Her shoulders and wings protested loudly as pain shot through them. Cap'n covered her ears with her hands as well as she could and cowered as Mer kept howling. Inwë figured that her cat ears must have given her much better hearing, thus making loud noises painful. She looked around wildly for a way to shut Mer up before she attracted the attention of every enemy within fifty miles. There was none. Cursing, Inwë forced herself to stand up and launched herself at Mer, tackling her. Mer abruptly stopped howling.

"Get her off o' me! Get off! Ouch! My arms! Ow! You're heavy!" she yelled instead. Cap'n, once her head had stopped hurting, got up and pulled Inwë off. The three teenagers sat panting and glaring at each other.

"Welcome back to the land of the living," Inwë snapped sarcastically. Mer blinked and looked at Cap'n with a question in her eyes.

"You were, uh," Cap'n struggled to explain, "A bit psychopathic a minute ago."

"Oh. Sorry! Let's go find Will!" Mer said in her usual cheery way. Inwë groaned. She was glad Mer had recovered from the shock, but the spontaneous nature had the potential to get on her nerves.

"All right, let's get moving then," Cap'n said with a shrug. Inwë adjusted her coat so it was more comfortable and left it unzipped. It seemed to be early in the day, but it was already quite warm, and Inwë's heat tolerance only went so far. That, and she wanted to be able to get at her katana easily without putting the sword belt around the outside of her coat (it just wouldn't look cool, she told herself).

The forest was an interesting place to walk through. In most respects, it was ordinary enough. Birds flew from tree to tree, chirping and singing. The shade from the trees deepened so that the temperature dropped a little, but it never got dark or chilly. Once in a while a small animal would dart from one side of the path to the other. Inwë could have sworn she saw a deer in the distance at one point. Mer and Cap'n, however, were too busy getting used to their new senses of hearing and sight to pay much attention. Mer had fun swiveling her ears around, since both could move independently. Cap'n remarked that she could see just fine in the darker parts of the forest and could hear everything perfectly. That meant that Inwë's muttered comments about "those dogs of Shinra" and "rain death upon their miserable cursed souls" didn't go unheard. Inwë quickly learned to merely think those thoughts rather than speak them aloud.

* * *

Back in the 7th Heaven, Amaya was wiping down the bar counter. She turned away and had her back to the door for a minute while she put some glasses away. While she was doing that, the bell over the door rang and a customer walked in. He was a short, skinny young man with the rough-around-the-edges look of a laborer.

"Hey, Tifa! Did you dye your hair blonde to match Cloud's?" he teased. Amaya turned around and glared at him.

"My name is Amaya. I'm watching the bar while Tifa and Cloud are away, you got that?" Amaya snapped. The guy chuckled nervously.

"What'd ya do, kill Tifa to take over the business?" he asked in an attempt at a joke. Amaya didn't find it funny. She had what Inwë called "_that_ look" on her face. It was a hard expression to describe. "Grim" came close, and "angry" wasn't that far off either. Inwë had seen Cloud, Vincent, Tifa, and a few other warriors get that exact same look before battles. Coming from Amaya, everyone knew it was a danger sign. Unfortunately for the guy at the bar, he didn't know Amaya well enough to realize he was in serious trouble.

"I WOULD NEVER KILL TIFA, YOU JERK! I WOULD NEVER HURT ANYONE JUST TO TAKE OVER THEIR BUSINESS!" Amaya suddenly yelled. She grabbed the nearest weapon – the leg of a broken chair that was leaning behind the counter – and leapt over the counter. She began beating the poor man over the head.

"HOW DARE YOU COME IN HERE AND SAY STUFF LIKE THAT?"

"Ow! Yes! Ouch! I'm sorry! Ow!"

"DIDN'T YOUR MOTHER TEACH YOU SOME MANNERS? YOU DON'T JUST WALK INTO A ROOM AND START INSULTING PEOPLE!"

"I'm sorry! Ow! Ow! It won't happen again! Ouch! I'm sorry! Ouch! Ow!" Bruises were already beginning to appear on the guy's face and arms. Amaya paused in her beating for a second to catch her breath. The guy took the opportunity to bolt for his life.

"And stay out!" Amaya shrieked after him. Ayame and a curious Marlene toddled into the room and looked around. Ayame's eyes went to her sister's face, then to the chair leg in her hand, and then to the door.

"Uh…"

"Don't. Even. Ask."

* * *

Inwë's feet were getting sore from all the walking, though the pain in her shoulders had turned into no more than a dull ache. She and her two friends had quieted down as the minutes of walking had turned into hours. They were now silent, each thinking their own thoughts. Inwë's kept going around in a circle: she'd think about the pain in her feet, Square's nasty sense of humor, her wings as a result of that nasty sense of humor, how Cloud would react if he saw her like this, and then she'd move her thoughts back to the pain in her feet before she could complete her trail of thought.

"Do you think we're almost to civilization?" Cap'n wondered aloud.

"Mm," Inwë murmured vaguely.

"We have to be," Mer growled, "We've been walking since forever." The trio sighed deeply. Inwë felt like pulling out on of the shuriken she had hidden on her and throwing it at something, but decided it would be a waste if she lost the shuriken in the dimness of the forest.

"Hey! Look! Something human!" Cap'n suddenly exclaimed, running forward towards another clearing. Inwë and Mer sprinted after her and slowed to a jog when they saw the unusual person standing in the middle of the clearing. It was a tall woman with extremely pale skin and long, chocolate brown hair. She had on a flowing, pale green dress. She turned around sharply as the three authoresses stumbled into the glade. Inwë's eyes widened slightly as they locked on the woman's bright green ones. _This woman has mako eyes! _Inwë thought in a panic. For all she knew, the woman could be a Mary-Sue. It wasn't unheard of.

"Greetings, travelers. Have you come to unravel the mystery of the Word Collision?" the strange woman asked. Her voice had the smooth quality of an Elf's, that was for sure. Her words, however, brought the three teenagers to a halt.

"Huh? 'World Collision'? What's that?" Cap'n asked uncertainly. Inwë fingered the hilt of her katana, just in case. She made the movement seem as casual as she could, but the woman still noticed.

"Please, I mean you no harm. My name is Mai. I have been sent to assist travelers in their journey and to give them whatever information they need." Inwë realized something and relaxed, letting her right hand hang loosely at her side.

"She's an NPC – non-playable character," she explained to the other two, "She was created by the game." Mer smiled uneasily and Cap'n nodded, having already figured that out. Mai, the woman, gave them all blank looks.

"The World Collision," she began again slowly, "came about because the dimensions came too close together and struck one another. They are in chaos now, a mix of both realms. There are some places that still remain unchanged, but they are few and far between. For now, the inhabitants of the two worlds are trying to live together in peace."

"I'm not worried," Inwë concluded. Cloud and Vincent had a talent for getting into trouble, but they wouldn't pick fights with pirates. Reno and Norrington, on the other hand…

"However," Mai continued in a slightly louder voice, "Old enemies are astir and also finding ways to adapt to this new realm. This could mean danger for you and the survivors of the collision…"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, 'SURVIVORS'?" Mer, Inwë, and Cap'n demanded in unison.

"…And you will have to be careful. Not everyone can be trusted. Do you think you will be able to repair the worlds and prevent the darkness from spreading?"

"Heck yes," Inwë muttered. Mai ignored her and waved her hand. A book appeared in midair and opened before the dazzled eyes of the three girls. Mer was the first to approach it.

"You must each decide what role you will play in this world," Mai informed them dreamily. Mer blinked and began reading out loud:

_The warrior is a skilled fighter who is able to destroy foes with ease and survive some of the roughest attacks. They are the protectors of the land and are feared by many because of their legendary strength and fighting abilities. They have one flaw, though. They cannot wield magic. They have almost no chance of being banished from the group by a Random Event._

_The mage is a mystical character with strange powers. They summon magic and weave powerful spells with ease, though they are not talented in the battlefield. They are easily injured, but can use curative magic to heal themselves and their allies. They have a medium chance of being banished from the group by a Random Event. _

_The pirate is even more skilled with weapons than a warrior, though more easily wounded. They are thieves and tricksters by nature, though they can be extremely useful to their group because of it. They can use Cure magic and Lightening magic and are good at learning how to use different weapons. They also have a special move called Pickpocket that steals health and money from their opponent. However, they cannot enter the Northern Crater, the only place in _Final Fantasy VII_ untouched by the powers of the Caribbean. They have a strong chance of being banished from their group by a Random Event._

_The Turk is an assassin, bodyguard, thief, spy, or anything else one needs to be. They used to work for Rufus Shinra, but many of them have become wanderers or mercenaries due to the World Collision. They can use almost any kind of weapon (though most specialize in only one or two kinds) and can use Cure and Fire magic. They are similar to pirates in many ways. They cannot enter Isla de Muerta, the only _Pirates of the Caribbean _world untouched by anything from the other world. They have a strong chance of being banished from the group by a Random Event. _

"What's a 'Random Event'?" Mer asked Mai. The strange woman smiled serenely, which Inwë decided was a bad sign.

"A Random Event is exactly as it sounds," Mai explained ambiguously, "Sometimes, at random, something will happen. Occasionally this means a battle, or other times it means one of you will be separated from your friends." Cap'n gave Inwë a sidelong look.

"This could be bad," she said. Inwë nodded.

"Ok, then let's pick. We haven't got all day," Mer sighed, stepping away from the mysterious book. The book shut itself and vanished in a glow of light.

"Mate, ye thinking the same as I?" Cap'n asked Mer with a wicked grin. Mer saluted.

"Aye, Cap'n! A pirate's life for me! I choose to be a pirate!" Mer exclaimed. Mai gave her a blank look and waved one pale hand. Nothing about Mer really changed except that a gold pirate medallion appeared around her neck. Cap'n's eyes were the size of soccer balls.

"This is _Aztec gold_! One o' eight hundred 'n' eighty-two identical pieces they delivered in a stone chest to Cortez himself!" she said in a convincing Barbossa voice, "Aye, I choose to be a pirate as well, savvy?" Mai waved her hand again and a second pirate medallion appeared around Cap'n's neck. The two authoresses giggled and did a pirate jig. After a minute they turned, grinning, to wait for Inwë's decision. She didn't look very happy.

"Turk," she said in a low voice. Mer's jaw dropped.

"But…I thought you were a pirate at heart?" she asked. Inwë shifted uncomfortably.

"I was, but not so much anymore. That doesn't mean I'm any less loyal to Captain Jack Sparrow or any of the others," she added with a fiery look in her eyes. Cap'n and Mer looked slightly disappointed but nodded.

"We understand," Cap'n agreed solemnly. Inwë smiled at her. Mai was looking extremely bored with this exchange, so she waved her hand for a third time. A pair of dog tags on a thin metal chain materialized around Inwë's neck. The authoress tucked them under her shirt and sighed. Something in her heart disagreed with her decision, but it was too late to change her mind. Besides, _one_ of them had to be able to go into the Northern Crater, just in case something important happened there.

"Anything else?" Inwë snapped impatiently, giving Mai a dark look, "Or will you just tell us which way to go?" The NPC seemed taken aback that someone was being so impudent in her presence. She tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and cleared her throat.

"If you wish to get to Port Royal, continue heading down this forest path. Everything here is peaceful, so you needn't worry about being attacked," she said coolly after she had regained her composure. Inwë and Cap'n both bowed respectfully.

"_Doumo arigatou gozaimasu, Mai-dono_," Inwë said politely.

"_Hai, arigatou gozaimasu_," Cap'n agreed. Mai nodded curtly and waved them off. Mer smiled at her and waved back.

"Thanks again!" she called over her shoulder as she and the others walked off. Soon they rounded a corner on the path and the clearing vanished from sight. The trio marched along in silence for a while. Despite what Mai had told them, Inwë kept one hand on her sword hilt at all times – one can never be too careful.

"So…do you think we'll find Will in Port Royal?" Mer asked with a hopeful smile.

"Possibly. That's where we first met him in _Kingdom Hearts II_," Cap'n replied.

"Yeah," Inwë added, "But who knows what condition he'll be in?" They all sighed sadly.

"Whatever happens, I'm pushing the wench overboard," Inwë continued with a grim smirk. Cap'n's own devilish grin easily matched Inwë's.

"Oh yes…Lizzie must die. It'll break Will's heart, but we only have his best interests at heart."

"Those of us who _have_ hearts," Inwë said slyly. Cap'n laughed and waved a hand as if to dismiss the idea.

"Don't get depressed on me, Inwë! You may wear an Organization coat, but you're not a Nobody."

"Yet."

"Aye. _Yet_."

"What are you two _talking_ about?" Mer demanded. Cap'n and Inwë started laughing again, and their laughter continued as they strolled down the path towards the unknown.


	6. Port Royal

**A/N: Next chapter for my three faithful reviewers, Mikol, Mer, and Cap'n. Oh, and the parts of the chapter that talk about Amaya and Aki and my other pals are sort of the "side story" parts of the story, but they're important, so there'll be one in just about every chapter. **

* * *

Inwë never thought she'd see the day when she _wasn't_ happy to be in Port Royal. Sure, she had had her qualms about it in the past, but those had merely been because pirates were frowned upon there, not to mention Beckett had made things unpleasant. Now she just didn't like seeing Port Royal in the state it was in. Once it had been a thriving Caribbean colony, but now there was a little too much _Final Fantasy VII_ in the mix. Inwë spotted people running around in "modern" clothes as she, Mer, and Cap'n made their way into town from the forest road. Several new shops had opened since she had last been there. Most of them had signs above the door that read something like "Armor Shop", "Weapon Shop", "Accessory Shop", and so on. Inwë was surprised to note that no one gave Mer and Cap'n's unusual ears and…tails…a second glance.

"It's kinda like Twilight Town," Cap'n commented as the three passed an Item Shop. Inwë sighed sadly. Under normal circumstances she wouldn't have minded all of this being there, but now that it was canon…

"What's Twilight Town?" Mer asked as she peered around at the various stores.

"It's the starting realm of _Kingdom Hearts II_," Inwë explained as she moved out of the path of a horse and cart, "It's pretty peaceful and has a bunch of shops and stuff. You'd probably like it."

"It sounds too quiet for me," Mer responded, fingering her pirate medallion. She sighed and smiled dreamily towards the harbor where several ships were docked. No doubt she was thinking about life on the high seas.

"Let's get something to eat!" Cap'n suggested as they passed a shop selling food. Inwë was about to reply that she wasn't really hungry (and besides, did they really have to eat when they were inside a video game?) when her stomach grumbled. Loudly. Loudly enough for Mer and Cap'n to smile knowingly.

"No denying it, mate," Cap'n said with a smirk, "You're just as hungry as we are!" Inwë scowled.

"Do we even know what kind of money they ask for?" she asked sullenly. The other two stared at her blankly.

"Uhh…" Inwë rolled her eyes and groaned. She marched over to the food stall and glanced at the prices on the menu. Each item had two prices – gil and coins. Gil was from _Final Fantasy VII_, so Inwë could only surmise that coins were the _Pirates of the Caribbean_ currency. Just then, the owner of the food stall came around the corner. She was a portly woman in her forties, with short black hair and glasses. She gave the trio suspicious looks and frowned when she saw Mer and Cap'n had pirate medallions.

"I don't serve thieves!" she snapped angrily when she saw Inwë examining the prices. The comment ruffled Inwë's feathers – pun fully and completely intended – but she forced herself to smile.

"Excuse me, ma'am, but we really aren't thieves. We just got here and we're kind of hungry, but we don't have any money. Perhaps there's some job we could do for you in exchange for some food…?" The shop owner glanced at the katana at Inwë's side and the black Organization coat she was wearing.

"Are you a warrior or another one of those thieving pirates?" she demanded sternly.

"A Turk, ma'am."

"Shinra dog, eh?" Inwë was no longer smiling, but she kept her tone respectful.

"I'm currently unemployed," she answered. Her voice was cold. The woman raised an eyebrow and folded her arms.

"I don't trust thieves or Shinra dogs, but if you want food so badly then I'm sure I can find something for you to do to pay for it. And my name's Elsie, _Miss_ Elsie or ma'am to you," she added sharply. Inwë bowed slightly.

"Thank you, ma'am. I'm sure you'll find we're hard workers." Mer and Cap'n nodded in agreement. Elsie handed them all heavy sacks of rice and ordered them to bring it to the governor's mansion. At the mention of the governor, the trio shared a secret grin. They might be able to get some valuable information after all!

* * *

Aki was bored out of her skull. She had no idea how the real Turks managed to retain their sanity when all they seemed to do all day was sit around and watch Rufus do paperwork. _Inwë must be insane_, Aki thought with a dejected sigh. Well…she always had acted a little funny…but she and her friends had found that normal.

Aki decided to take out a notebook and start writing again, since she had nothing better to do. Rufus had been doing paperwork for the past three hours and showed no signs of stopping, though he did pause to glare at his "bodyguard" whenever she started fidgeting. Said bodyguard was now humming to herself as she wrote in her notebook. Rufus gave her a look but she was too busy to notice. Before Rufus could say anything, the office phone rang. _President_ Shinra picked it up irritably.

"What? Oh. It's you. Yes, we're just fine. Could you stop calling every half-hour? Yes, I know it's a safety procedure. Stop doing it." He hung up without saying goodbye. The phone rang again. Aki snickered.

"What is it now? If you want an apology you're not going to -," Rufus said when he picked up again. He stopped talking and paled slightly. Well, at least more than usual.

"Who is this?" he asked quietly. Aki stood up as she realized something was wrong and grabbed the phone.

"Hey, answer the man! What were you saying to him?" she all but shouted. There was a startled pause on the other end of the line.

"Are you Aki Emiko?" asked a young male voice. Aki wondered how this person knew her full name but decided she might just have found it on her FictionPress profile.

"Yeah, that's me. Who're you?"

"Nobody of no importance." Aki sorted out the double negative in a heartbeat and laughed.

"You're really conceited, aren't you? Now why don't you tell me what you want with Rufus Shinra?" she said with mock sweetness.

"Just doing my job." The mysterious boy hung up without warning. Aki set the phone down and blinked slowly at Rufus.

"What exactly did that kid say to you?"

* * *

Inwë had learned lots of things "the hard way" in her time: don't lick a battery to see if it's dead or not, don't touch a hot stove to see how much it hurts, don't trust a young horse not to bite you, don't run around in the woods if you're wearing sandals, etc. The newest addition to that list was "don't carry a thirty pound sack of rice on your back if you have wings attached to your shoulders". Yes, the authoress had foolishly tried to carry her load of rice on her back. The sharp pains coming from her shoulders and wing joints would prevent her from ever doing so again. Fortunately for her, it was only about three-quarters of a mile from Elsie's food stall to the governor's mansion. The trio of authoresses reached the front gate only half an hour after setting out. All three set down their sacks with relieved sighs.

"Aye," Cap'n sighed happily, "That be better. And I suppose this is where _dear_ Lizzie grew up?" Inwë grimaced, half from pain and half from the unpleasant memory of Elizabeth Swann.

"That wench had better not be here," she muttered. The murderous gleam in her eye was hard to miss.

"We need her alive for now,' Mer hastily reminded the other two. Inwë and Cap'n stared at her blankly.

"Why?" they asked in unison. Mer had to stop and think about that one.

"We're wasting too much time," Inwë warned, "Let's go." Cap'n gave her bag of rice a sad look.

"It's heavy."

"They all are. Deal with it." Inwë grunted as she lifted her sack and supported the bottom with one hand. In a way, it wasn't much different than carrying a bag of groceries, except it weighed a lot more.

It took them another five minutes to carry the rice to the mansion, bang on the door, and convince the doorman that they really had been sent by Miss Elsie to deliver the rice. After that, it only took about thirty second to talk the doorman into letting them speak with Governor Swann – but that was because Mer and Cap'n were sick of arguing and had pulled out their respect cutlasses in a threatening manner. The flustered doorman then escorted them up to the governor's office and banged on the door.

"Someone to see you, sir," he called.

"Enter," Governor Swann replied. Inwë opened the door and gestured for Mer and Cap'n to go in ahead of her. She smiled viciously at the doorman as she closed the door behind her.

The governor didn't seem much different than he had in the first _Pirates of the Caribbean_ movie. He did seem rather anxious, though. When the three teenagers entered the room, he was pacing in front of the window. As soon as the door was shut he gave them all hopeful looks. As with the people in the town, he didn't seem at all surprised by Mer and Cap'n's unusual features – though he did stare at Inwë for a minute as if there was something odd about her that he couldn't quite place.

"Have you come with news of my daughter? Ever since the World Collision, she's been missing. I fear for her safety with all these pirates about," he exclaimed nervously. Cap'n and Mer exchanged glances.

"Actually, we…er…came to ask about your kidnapping. How did you wind up here?" Mer asked uncertainly. Governor Swann stared at them blankly.

"I…what are you…no…no, I was here…the World Collision…" he stammered. Inwë's eyes narrowed and she tipped her head slightly to one side, eyeing the governor critically.

"Guys, is it just me or do his eyes look a little glazed?" she inquired suspiciously. Mer leaned forward and peered at the governor's eyes while he continued to ramble about the World Collision and finding Elizabeth. After a second she straightened up.

"Yep. Definitely glazed." Cap'n glanced at Inwë.

"Drugged?" she asked. Inwë shook her head slowly.

"No…more likely disoriented. The rapid shift in canon may be affecting him," she added thoughtfully. Governor Swann paid no attention to their conversation, as if in a trance. Inwë circled him with a frown on her face. She gently poked his shoulder, but he didn't respond. Waving a hand on front of his face got the same reaction.

"Huh," Cap'n muttered as Inwë continued to try to distract the Governor from his ranting. Mer whimpered.

"W-what if W-will's stuck like this?" she wailed. Cap'n awkwardly patted her on the back. Inwë gave her two friends an annoyed look – she was _trying_ to work, here! – but didn't say anything about the noise or the possibility that Will was in a similar state.

"Any ideas?" she asked instead, looking towards Cap'n and Mer expectantly. Both pirates sighed and slumped slightly.

"If this were a simple case of Sue possession, I'd say we should find the Sue and kill it, but…"

"…Considering that this might be Square and Disney's doing, things aren't that easy," Mer concluded weakly. Inwë felt the angst sinking in and promptly smacked Governor Swann over the back of the head. Why? It relieved stress, and the last thing the authoress wanted was more stress. She needed her wits about her if things were to get…complicated. As it was, she was _darn_ near close to pulling out her katana and slicing the nearest enemy with it.

"If my bodyguards get hurt, there's going to be hell to pay," she snarled softly.

"Likewise, should Jack – sorry, _Captain_ Jack - or James be harmed in any way…well, _something's_ going down," Cap'n agreed. Inwë twitched slightly. Even after helping Norrington hide from the authorities for nearly two years, she still hadn't started calling him by his first name. Hearing it grated her nerves simply because she wasn't used to it.

"Are we done? I can hear the doorman coming back," Mer informed them flatly. Inwë tipped her head towards the door and listened, but couldn't hear anything. However, Cap'n was nodding.

"I hear him too. Let's make ourselves scarce, savvy?" Inwë saluted and purposefully stepped on Governor Swann's foot as she strode over to the window. It wasn't a very long drop to the ground, maybe ten feet. Nevertheless, Inwë balked.

"No problem for someone with wings, right?" Cap'n teased. The other authoress shot her a look that had once stopped Reno in his tracks; such was the force of the fury behind it.

"I cannot fly with these…_things_," she said thickly, "My bones would have to be hollow and I would have to weigh next to nothing. Or, I would have to have a one hundred foot wingspan – which I don't. Therefore," she added in conclusion, "I cannot fly. Not to mention I have a fear of heights. I shall climb down." She pointed at the tree that was conveniently situated next to the window. Did that dolly old belle what's-her-face had planted it for exactly the same purpose? Inwë sneered at the thought. Perhaps one day she would have to actually _thank_ Elizabeth for this. She reflected on that as she precariously worked her way down the tree. She had never really liked Elizabeth to begin with. She had found her too damsel-y and prissy and Disney-princess…ish. _Dead Man's Chest_ had not helped matters. To be fair, Inwë had to admit that Elizabeth was at least realistic, but such blatant betrayal had only served to highlights "Lizzie's" flaws. Then came _Kingdom Hearts II_ and the rescuing of said wench when all Inwë had wanted to do was find Riku and convince him that kidnapping one more not-quite-Disney princess would be in the best interest of all parties involved. After that, she had left Lizzie alone. It was just too frustrating to be able to see her and not be able to make her walk the plank.

"What took you so long?" Mer asked casually from her spot on the ground. She and Cap'n had been waiting for Inwë for all of five minutes. Inwë sighed deeply as she dusted off her coat. One of these days…

"Come on, I'm starving," Cap'n yawned, "And it's getting late." Inwë and Mer twisted around to stare at the sky. Sure enough, the sun was low in the sky. In a couple more hours it would set. The time didn't make much sense to Inwë. They had entered this realm at about noon, real time, and it had looked to be about that time when they had arrived. Exactly how much time had they spent in the forest?

"Ok. Let's go, before that doorman figures out where we went," Mer suggested. That thought had them scurrying back towards town at a healthy rate.

Miss Elsie seemed mildly surprised when the trio returned. Inwë wondered if she had thought they would steal the rice and run for it. She decided it was reasonable.

"Well," Elsie said shortly as they arrived and waited expectantly for their dinner. The middle-aged woman folded her arms and regarded each of them in turn, adjusting her glasses from time to time.

"It's been a slow day today," she continued, "But I'm a woman of my word. You'll get your food." She turned and stalked off into the cooking area of the small shop. Inwë heard her exchange sharp words with someone – the cook, perhaps – before she came back empty handed.

"It'll be a minute," she explained, "So sit down and don't steal anything." She gestured towards some tables that were nestled between the food stall and the side of a building, which provided ample shade as well as a discreet place to plan their next move. Inwë unbuckled her sword belt and leaned her sheathed katana against the brick wall, and then slid gratefully into a chair, making sure her back was to the wall so she couldn't be sneaked up on. Mer and Cap'n dropped heavily into chairs on either side of her. The shade was a welcome relief from the hot sun.

"So how do you think we can free our friends?" Mer asked once they had been relaxing for a decent interval. Inwë leaned back in her chair as much as the soreness in her shoulders and wings would allow and sighed.

"Maybe a better question would be, 'What are we freeing them from?'" she offered grimly. Cap'n banged her head on the table.

"We don't even know where to start!" she complained loudly.

"Well, how about we call Shelke and see if she's turned anything up?" Mer suggested hopefully. Inwë smacked herself on the forehead.

"I can't believe I forgot about that. We could have checked in hours ago to see if anything's come up," she sighed. She pulled the cell phone out of her pocket and dialed the number for Shelke's phone. After two rings she picked up.

"Is there a problem?" Shelke inquired politely.

"That really depends on your definition of 'problem'," Inwë replied. She went on to explain about Governor Swann's condition and about everything Mai had told them about the World Collision. She left out the bits about Elsie and how they had been mistaken for thieves. The "Shinra dogs" comment wouldn't have something Shelke needed to hear.

"And that's about it. Has anything happened on your end?"

"Rufus Shinra received a threatening phone call this morning."

"That's nothing new."

"Your friend Aki suspected something was amiss about it."

"She'll be able to handle things. I'm not worried about Rufus, anyways. Anything else? Did you find out what they used to drug Charlie?"

"Not yet. We are currently still running tests." Inwë was glad Shelke couldn't see her look of disappointment.

"Ok. Well, thanks Shelke. We'll call in tomorrow. Bye." She hung up and gave her friends a pained smile.

"Nothing important. Rufus got a threatening phone call, but that comes with the territory."

"Are you sure?" Cap'n asked sagely, "It might be the same people who kidnapped our friends." Inwë shrugged nonchalantly.

"I've sent Rufus threatening phone calls myself, so I don't think it's that unusual." The silence that followed was awkward. In the meantime, their food arrived, carried on a tray by a girl of about seventeen. She was taller than Inwë – about 5'7" – and skinny, with long black hair that she had twisted into a thick braid. She smiled at them all politely (Inwë noted that she had braces) as she set their food on the table before she pulled up a chair and sat down. Cap'n glanced at Inwë, who was frowning at the newcomer.

"And you are…?" she inquired delicately. The icy edge was back in her voice, but if the stranger sensed any hostility, she was clearly ignoring it.

"I'm Cecilia! My mom runs the shop. She said I'd been in the kitchen long enough, so she sent me out to keep you company." The girl, Cecilia, giggled. Inwë blinked slowly, unsure of how to handle this. She stared at Cap'n as if begging her to turn pirate and scare this other teenager away with a hearty "Arrrr!" and a half-hearted swing of her cutlass. Cap'n smiled smugly and shook her head a fraction of an inch. _No,_ her eyes seemed to say, _for once you have to deal with the insanity that is other people, savvy? _To emphasis the point she turned her head and perked her ears towards Cecilia, drinking in her every word. Mer grinned evilly (Inwë could have sworn her canine teeth had been replaced with fangs) and did the same. Cecilia continued talking, blissfully ignorant of this exchange and Inwë's suddenly murderous expression. The authoress could not justify strangling Cecilia, and it would be unwise to wander off by herself, so she stayed put and endured.

"So you guys are out trying to fix the World Collision?" Cecilia asked after ten minutes of non-stop chatter. Inwë shot Mer and Cap'n a warning look. The last thing they needed was a gossiping teenager telling the whole town about their mission. Mer inclined her head slightly to show she understood. Cap'n stalled diplomatically so that Cecilia wouldn't pick up on the trio's hesitance, but she caught Inwë's eye and nodded.

"Well…" Cap'n continued slowly, "We are definitely interested in the World Collision. But, more specifically, we want to know about any suspicious activity that's been going on around here." Cecilia's eyes widened.

"Do you think it has something to do with the World Collision? There have been lots of strange people milling around. This one red-headed woman kept stopping by the shop over the last few days, and I was sure I saw her playing with some knives or something at her table." Cecilia now had Inwë's rapt attention.

"This woman – did she have anyone with her? Did she meet anyone while she was here? Did you overhear anything?" Inwë demanded breathlessly. Cap'n gently touched her arm as a silent reminder not to get carried away. Inwë checked herself and sat back slightly in a vain attempt to mask her eagerness. Cecilia didn't seem to notice. She was too busy glancing over her shoulder to look for eavesdroppers. When she was satisfied that they weren't being watched, she leaned forward. The other three did the same.

"The first two times this woman came," Cecilia whispered, "She talked on her cell phone for almost half an hour each time. The first time she seemed more relaxed, but the second time she seemed angry. She was snarling, almost, but after a minute she shut up and looked nervous." Cecilia paused and craned her neck to see if anyone was hanging around the shop. Inwë casually scanned the other side of the street, but there were no suspicious characters. When all parties were satisfied, Cecilia continued.

"The third time she came, she had a guy with her. He was tall and wore a Navy uniform. He looked kind of out of it," she added as an afterthought. Cap'n paled, Mer let out a soft whine, and Inwë looked stunned.

"Norrington…?" she wondered, not that the question needed to be voiced. All three knew the pieces lined up together too perfectly to be a coincidence.

"Do you know him?" Cecilia asked excitedly. Inwë blinked slowly.

"No. The description matches that of a man who might have some information on our friends," she lied. Mer shot her a puzzled look and opened her mouth to say something, but Inwë kicked her under the table.

"Well," the authoress continued with a dramatic sigh, "It looks like we'll have a lot of searching to do. Thanks for helping us, Cecilia." The other teen looked a little put out, but she grudgingly took all their plates (Inwë realized too late that she had barely picked at her own food – her stomach grumbled angrily as testament to the fact) and stalked off to the kitchen. Once they were alone, Mer glared at Inwë.

"She might have given us more information if you hadn't lied," she said moodily. Inwë sneered.

"That girl and her mother seem decent enough, but they're probably just elaborate NPCs. That means they're wired into the system, and _that_ means that whoever's in charge might find out what we told her. I was just taking precautions."

"Hmph."

"Don't give me that," Inwë said in a low voice, "I'm just trying to get us all out of here in one piece. You agree, right Cap'n?"

"Uhh…" Cap'n stalled, reluctant to get involved. Inwë rolled her eyes and waited to see if Cecilia or Elsie came back out. After a few minutes of mostly awkward silence, Cecilia trotted back out and started cleaning the other tables. The trio took that as a sign that they had overstayed their welcome, so they stood up and collected their weapons. Just as they were about to depart, Inwë paused and glanced back at Cecilia.

"I apologize if I was rude," she said haltingly, "Thank you very much for your time." Mer smiled slyly and crept off after Cap'n, leaving Inwë to handle her own social shortcomings. Cecilia stared at the authoress for a minute before she smiled.

"You're welcome. Oh, by the way," she added quickly as Inwë turned to leave, "the redheaded woman…her name is Inari."

* * *

**A/N: Wow, 19 pages! That's a record for me! Yeah. Reviews would be nice. –Hopeful poke- Oh, and let me reintroduce my beloved pet Dom.**

**Dom: No, not this again!**

**Me: The other option is certain death in most gruesome ways, love. Be thankful that I rescued you. **

**Dom: -slightly thankful-**

**Me: BE MORE THANKFUL, DAMMIT!**

**Ehem.**


	7. Boss Fights and Kidnappings

**A/N: Sorry about the wait, I've been sick. Updates may be a bit slow in coming until after PotC3…the anticipation is killing me. I have artfully resisted all possible spoilers, so go me! **

* * *

Inwë tossed her knife up and down, her blue eyes following the blade as it rose high in the air and came down again. She was thinking. The last clue that Cecilia left them, the name Inari, was puzzling the authoress to no end. She knew that name, she was certain of it. But for all her confidence, she was still no closer to answering the riddle.

"Inwë, we're trying to plan our next move. Can you quit playing with pointy objects and pay attention?" Cap'n snapped. Inwë turned her head and stared at her blankly. A moment later she hissed in pain as she accidentally caught the knife by the blade, cutting herself. Muttered curses, a hurried movement to stop the bleeding, and much glaring commenced.

"Quiet!" Mer muttered, "You're making the bartender nervous!" Cap'n and Inwë sent twin deathglares towards the thin, oily man who was slowly polishing glasses and eyeing them suspiciously from behind the bar. The three friends had managed to threaten and plead their way into a tavern just before the sun had set nearly four hours earlier. The place wasn't exactly pleasant looking – dirt was caked into the floorboards and the fire in the hearth constantly emitted foul-smelling smoke, not to mention the food was questionable – but it was all they could get.

Cap'n sighed deeply as she smoothed the cheap maps they had "borrowed" from a mapmaker in town. The world they were in seemed to be made up of two continents, a large island, and several smaller islands spread out across the ocean. The pirate authoress only recognized half of the names on the map.

"Inwë, you're the expert on _Final Fantasy VII_. Come help me figure out where we are," she ordered sharply. Inwë mumbled more curses as she wrapped a cloth around her bleeding hand. With a dramatic sigh and much shuffling of feet, she got up and walked around the table so she was next to Cap'n and Mer. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at the fading parchment.

"Well…we're _here_, in Port Royal," she said evenly, tapping the paper with her pointer finger, "And this road leading out of town…" She moved her finger to a black dot that, according to the map, was five miles from their current location. Mer and Cap'n leaned forward.

"Junon? Where's that?" Cap'n inquired. Inwë looked hopeful.

"Junon…it's a port town, one of Shinra's strongholds. Who knows? Reno and the other Turks could be there." She smiled broadly. "I bet Reno will be furious that _I'm_ rescuing _him_ for once."

"So, this Junon place is our best bet to start looking?" Mer asked. Inwë nodded.

"Yeah. It looks to me like we'd be able to sail from there to…" Her voice trailed off as she glanced at the map. From Junon, forty miles of open ocean separated the continent they were on from the large island. The town closest to the coast was Edge, and after that there was a road leading to Costa del Sol, another costal town. Halfway to Costa del Sol there was a third black dot, labeled "The Black Spot". Inwë decided to worry about it later and made a mental note to ask the bartender if he knew what it meant. She continued examining the road. A second path split off from the main one and headed into the interior of the large island. Two more dots, one to the far north and the other to the south, were situated on either side of a large river. The northern dot was labeled "Golden Saucer" and the southern dot was "Chocobo Farm". Inwë smiled to herself at the mention of the two names.

"After Junon," she continued, "We'll probably make port in Edge. That should be interesting. Then I suggest we head to Costa del Sol. I don't think any _Final Fantasy_ characters are there, but it's one of those places where Captain Sparrow or Will might end up."

"What about the 'Golden Saucer' and the 'Chocobo Farm'?" Cap'n asked.

"The Golden Saucer is a theme park and Chocobo Farm is just that, a chocobo farm. I doubt anyone we know would bother going there."

"What's a chocobo?" Mer wondered aloud.

"Large bird," Inwë explained, "They look sort of like Cloud."

"Huh?"

"Inside joke."

"Oh." Mer looked more confused than before, but they were moving on. Cap'n leaned over the map and squinted in the dim light. A small island lay off the coast of the larger island. The faded letters next to it read "Tortuga".

"We'll head there after Costa del Sol," Cap'n decided, "And then we can plan our next move." Inwë nodded her agreement and sat down in her chair. The flickering candlelight was making her drowsy. What was it she had been thinking of earlier? She had made a mental note about something, but what was it?

"Oh, I remember!" she said after a few moments of thought, "I wanted to ask the bartender about a couple things." Without waiting for a reply, she grabbed the map off the table and strolled over to the man behind the bar. He shot her a very suspicious look, noting her katana and her Organization coat, and nervously cleaned more mugs. Inwë smiled politely.

"Good evening to you, sir."

"What's good about it? You lot come in here, don't pay for anything, and now ya except me to wait on ya hand 'n' foot?" he grumbled irritably. Inwë continued smiling, but it was cold and artificial.

"I hate to be such a bother. How about you help my friends and I out a bit, so we can leave first thing in the morning without causing any _trouble_?" she suggested sweetly. _Sweet like poisoned honey_, she thought to herself. Tseng would _have_ to give her a place in the Turks after this, regardless of what Rufus would say about it. She was just getting to be too evil to pass up. The bartender glared at her.

"Aye, 'n' what can I 'elp ya with?" he replied sourly. Inwë spread her map out on the counter.

"We're new around here, so we could use some help with our map. For example, this place…'The Black Spot'. What can you tell me about it?" The man shrugged and kept wiping the mug in his hand.

"Simple enough, that. It's jus' another tavern. Seems your mapmaker enjoyed the food there." Inwë masked her mingled relief and disappointment. She studied the map again for a while until she spotted something interesting. On the other major continent, to the far north, there was a dot marked as "Corel Prison". Inwë remembered that place well enough, and also remembered that the real one had been underneath the Golden Saucer.

"And 'Corel Prison'…?" The man glanced around for eavesdroppers before answering.

"That place is a bit o' work, let me tell ya. They keep political prisoners there, 'n' 'rebels', as they say."

"Who are 'they'?"

"No one rightly knows." Cap'n and Mer were listening in, now, their ears turned back to catch the man's words without actually turning their heads. Inwë quietly went back to the map and found another point of interest. There was a large blank area just northeast of "Corel Prison", called "The Void". The man was already shaking his head sharply.

"No, I can't tell ya anything 'bout _that_ place. It's bad luck to speak of it. You'd best forget it." Inwë blinked slowly and started to pester the man, but he had already scurried off to the back room. She waited, but he didn't return. _Superstitious fool_, she thought to herself. Mer and Cap'n smiled at her sympathetically as she turned on her heel and returned to their table.

"I wonder what _that_ was about," Cap'n said, looking to Mer to see if she had any ideas. The other authoress shrugged.

"I'm in over my head as it is. I wish Will was here!" she sighed. Inwë made a noncommittal noise in her throat as she examined the mild injury to her hand. She'd have to be more careful next time. The cut wasn't _that_ deep, but it was her sword hand after all…

"Inwë, did you figure out who this 'Inari' character is yet?" Cap'n asked. Inwë gave her hand one last look and lowered it, swiveling her head to stare at her companions.

"I'm positive I've heard the name before, but I can't remember where."

"Is it a _Final Fantasy_ name?" Mer inquired.

"No. At least, not a name from any _Final Fantasy_ that I've studied. There's a possibility that it came from one of the older ones that I didn't cover in my research…"

"Research?" Cap'n asked with narrowed eyes. Inwë grinned sheepishly.

"It's what I call it. I'm just a video game geek at heart, you know."

"And an anime geek," Mer added.

"Don't forget the _Lord of the Rings_ and _Pirates of the Caribbean_ obsessions," Cap'n agreed. Inwë laughed softly, which quickly turned into a cough. She winced at her friends' worried frowns.

"Occupational hazard. Didn't I mention that I get sick when I enter the realms…?"

"Not really." Inwë awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck and smiled.

"Well, now you know. It's nothing to worry about. Anyways," she continued, "I can't recall where I've heard the name 'Inari'. Maybe over time I'll think of something, but -."

She was interrupted by a loud _CRASH_ and the sound of glass breaking. The murky windows of the tavern had been shattered. The bartender rushed into the room with a cutlass in one hand and a bottle of port in the other. He hurriedly ducked as a rock hurtled through one of the windows and smashed into the bottles of rum on the shelves above his head. More stones flew through the remaining windows, some hitting flasks of alcohol or knocking over candles as they whooshed past. Inwë instinctively lifted an arm as several pebbles sailed in her direction. Mer wasn't so lucky – a few of the projectiles hit the back of her head – but she was on her feet with her cutlass and revolver at the ready before the last of the stones had been thrown.

"All right, who wants some?" she challenged no one in particular.

"Form an orderly line! I'll have you all one by one!" Cap'n shouted angrily in agreement as she emerged from under the table, shaking bits of glass and rock fragments out of her hair, "And no whacking me over the head with a rum bottle, savvy?" Inwë muttered something about "sneak attacks" and "no one has a sense of honor anymore" (with numerous curses thrown in for flavor) as she stood and slowly drew her katana.

"Shall we?" she asked her comrades with a diabolical smirk that was rather disturbing. Mer and Cap'n nodded eagerly and walked calmly towards the entrance, followed closely by Inwë. They burst out the door, weapons at the ready, only to stop short. Inwë nearly crashed into them but managed to gracefully stumble to the front of the group. She, too, froze and stared at the opponent before them.

"What the…?"

* * *

Back in the world the trio had left behind, Aki stalked moodily in Rufus' wake. It was nearing midnight and the talented young writer was more than ready for bed. Rufus, however, had insisted on staying in the office until he had finished all the paperwork that had piled up in his six-hour absence earlier that day. Aki's protests that even the Turks would be dying of boredom and sleep deprivation fell on deaf ears. So there she was, forced to walk Rufus home in the cold, dark, damp middle of the night. Inwë would be getting an earful upon her return about volunteering her friends for bodyguard duty.

"Hurry up, girl. You're lagging behind," Rufus snapped from up ahead.

"My name is Aki Emiko, authoress and evil mastermind, not 'girl'," Aki said through clenched teeth.

"Whatever, girl. Get moving."

"You big jerk! Don't act like you can order me around! And say you're sorry for calling me 'girl', you jerk!" Rufus stopped in his tracks, stunned that someone was being so rude to _him_. Aki glared at him with a glare born from years of careful training and liberal use. If she had been an anime character, little sizzling red heat waves would have appeared over her head. Sizzle, sizzle. Rufus turned around sharply to stare at her. He was unfazed by the expert death glare that had so often made Aki's opponents cower in fear.

"I don't really care about how you _feel_ about matters. You're just another tool. Now, because for the moment I have no _real_ bodyguards, I have to settle for you. So if it gets you to do your job, I'll say it: I apologize for calling you 'girl'. Now hurry up." With that he turned on his heel and kept walking. Aki continued to sizzle for several seconds before she followed. They both remained stubbornly silent for several minutes while Aki fumed and Rufus reflected on the loss of the Turks. Not that Rufus cared about the Turks – he just wanted his skilled bodyguards back.

The pair was almost to Rufus' mansion when Aki felt like they were being watched. She stopped and motioned for her charge to stop, too, but Rufus was in no mood to be cautious. He continued strolling down the road. Aki hissed under her breath and ran after him. She grabbed him angrily by his sleeve.

"You idiot!" she snarled, "Do you _want_ to get kidnapped? I said don't move!" Rufus gave her a blank look and stayed where he was. The authoress slowly pulled out the katana she wore at her side and turned in a circle, eyes scanning the trees and surrounding terrain for signs of their pursuer. Everything seemed quiet and peaceful. _Seemed_ was the key word. Aki had been out and about after dark too many times to dismiss the cold chill running down her spine.

"Are you sure you didn't _imagine_ it?" Rufus drawled lazily. Aki was about to growl a reply when someone dropped down from the roof of the building next to them, landing between Aki and Rufus. Before she could react, the stranger had slammed the hilt of a kodachi against the side of her head. Stunned, she lost her grip on her katana and dropped it. It fell to the pavement and bounced away from her before she could catch it. Aki automatically reached for a few shuriken with one hand and her dirk with the other, but her attacker hadn't finished the onslaught. A second kodachi was in the figure's other hand, and in a swift movement Aki was slashed across her left shoulder. That injury was followed by a second blow to the head – mercifully with the hilt, again – and a quick slice across her temple. Aki reeled away from her assailant and tripped over an uneven place on the ground. Her head pounded and she could feel blood sliding down her cheek from the cut on her face as she hit the ground and rolled a few feet. She groaned slightly as she accidentally scraped her elbows on the rough pavement.

"Don't bother getting up," a female voice informed her in an almost bored tone, "I'm just here for Rufus Shinra. There's no need for you to die here today. And believe me, as skilled as you might think you are, I could defeat you again just as easily." Aki lifted her head enough to see the speaker – her attacker. A black scarf hid the lower half of her face. Bright amber eyes surveyed Aki coolly, and red hair was tied back into a loose ponytail. _The redheaded woman is a ninja_? Aki wondered. It wasn't impossible, but it was a little…cheesy. As if reading the writer's thoughts, the mysterious woman laughed.

"Oh, forget about me. I'm nobody." Her tone suddenly had a bitter edge. "That's going to change soon enough. Thank you for making this job so easy, and sorry about the injuries. I'm sure you'll recover." The woman waved as a black car pulled up next to Rufus. She casually shoved the president of Shinra into said car, slammed the door behind him, and slid into the passenger seat. The car sped off before Aki could see the license plate or even move enough to go after them. It was another few minutes before she could rally the strength to stand up. Her head swam and the slice across her temple throbbed painfully, but she could walk. Still dazed, she spun around and staggered in the general direction of the 7th Heaven.

"Must…tell…_somebody_!"

* * *

Inwë stared incredulously at the…_thing_ that had been chucking rocks through the tavern windows. It was a little taller and heavier than she was, and somehow managed to look like a Heartless version of Will Turner – not unlike Shadow Sora from _Kingdom Hearts_ – except that it had glowing white eyes instead of yellow ones and seemed to be made up of fog rather than coal black shadows. Mer was blinking at it slowly.

"Will…? WILL!" She ran towards the thing and tackled it, squealing in delight. The thing hissed dangerously and vanished in a puff of smoke, reappearing several feet to Mer's left.

"It's a Shadow!" the bartender shouted from the inn's threshold. Inwë and Cap'n whipped their heads around, but the man had already closed the door. Inwë heard the harsh scrape of metal on metal as the bolt was hastily shut.

"Oh, _brilliant_," she muttered. Cap'n shrugged.

"Well, at least we have our weapons with us."

"Is that supposed to be optimism?" Cap'n just smiled. Inwë let out a frustrated sigh and sheathed her katana. Her companion gave her an odd look.

"Umm…won't you be needing that?" It was Inwë's turn to smile, though hers was more of a grimace.

"Clearly you have never seen _Rurouni Kenshin_."

"Who cares!" Mer shrieked suddenly, "Just save me!" Cap'n and Inwë stared at their friend, who was being chased around and around in circles by the "Shadow Will". Spheres of dark magic had formed around the thing's hands. Even as they watched, the hands shifted into claws. The thing grinned wildly and let out a shrill cry. Mer howled back a challenge and slid to a stop next to her friends.

"Ok, how do we use magic? I want to blast this thing into the next dimension!" she panted.

"Uh…"

"Too late!" Cap'n snarled as she unsheathed her own cutlasses. The "Shadow Will" halted on the other side of the street, crouched down on all fours. It let out a soft hiss every time it breathed, its fangs (yes, _fangs_) bared maliciously. The four combatants stayed that way for what felt like an eternity. Then, without warning, the Shadow Will leapt at Inwë. She drew her katana in one not-quite-so-fluid motion and slashed at the creature's stomach. If she made impact, the thing certainly showed no signs of it. It was swinging its claws at her before she had even finished the blow. Mer's quick counterattack prevented it from landing any of those slashes. Cap'n swung her twin cutlasses in a wide arc, hitting the creature's back. It twisted around furiously and clawed at Cap'n eyes, but she was already dancing out of the way. That gave Inwë time to lunge at the Shadow Will. That time she was positive that she hit it, but it still wasn't going down. Three more hits from Mer and Cap'n had some effect, but not enough to take the things down. Inwë fell prey to the wildly flailing claws and ended up with three deep cuts across her shoulder. Her anger at being hit overcame her pain and she struck out at the creature as hard as she could. It let out a raspy screech of fury and disappeared in a cyclone of smoke.

"We got it!" Mer cheered, beginning to do a victory dance.

"No, we didn't – its boss music is still playing!" Cap'n corrected her. The trio blinked at each other and listened. Sure enough, faint music could be heard playing.

"I like it!" Inwë said in an uncharacteristically hyper way, "It sounds like 'Tension Rising' from _Kingdom Hearts II_." Cap'n smiled happily.

"Ah, this brings back memories."

"Roxas' first boss fight," Inwë sighed.

"The Organization's lame attempts to murder us," Cap'n added reminiscently.

"Axel." Inwë glared at the cobblestones. "My punishment for failing to save Aerith." Cap'n awkwardly patted her friend on the shoulder, trying to be comforting but still just coming off as awkward.

"That wasn't your fault, mate. And how is Axel your punishment?" she wondered aloud. Inwë was about to answer when Mer coughed loudly.

"The music is still playing, guys. What does that mean?"

"Oh. That. The thing's probably coming back with reinforcements," Inwë muttered indifferently. Mer gulped. Cap'n rolled her eyes heavenward and started examining her cutlasses for signs of damage before the second onslaught arrived. Inwë yawned and sat down with her back against the tavern's closed and locked door, katana leaning against her shoulder. Mer looked around uncertainly, her ears twitching from side to side and her tail wagging slowly. The trio waited. And waited. And waited some more.

"Cap'n, I don't think it's coming back. The music's already fading," Inwë pointed out from her spot by the tavern door. Cap'n sighed deeply and yawned.

"Bloody coward, that thing was. All right, let's get some sleep. We'll need a sentinel, just in case." Inwë lifted her hand to show she was volunteering.

"Ok, thanks Inwë. Mer, let's break this door down. If you wouldn't mind moving?" Cap'n added with a smirk at Inwë, who picked up her katana and stood back expectantly. Several sharp kicks and much cursing eventually led to the door splintering, allowing the two authoresses to enter. Inwë stayed outside and sat back down with her back to the wall – an object far less likely to be broken down by her comrades. The town, for the first time in half an hour, was completely silent. _And that bodes ill for us all_, Inwë thought as a cool breeze whipped down the street, ruffling her hair and bringing with it the scent of approaching doom…

* * *

**A/N: Heh. I give full credit to Cap'n for giving me the idea for the boss fight music – it **_**was**_** rather hilarious. 17 pages this time! And now I bid you farewell. I must go and drool over more PotC3 trailers and plot my vengeance upon the slayers of my pet Dom. Adieu! **


	8. Unexpected Entrances

**A/N: At World's End did little for the muse except make me more angsty than usual, so sorry for the long wait. ANYWAYS, I'm not going to put any AWE spoilers in this story, since I wasn't planning on doing it anyways.**

* * *

Inwë groggily rubbed her eyes and stood up, stretching to relieve the tension in her shoulders and legs. Her wing joints ached, but she ignored them and stomped inside the tavern to find some cold water to splash on her face. It was just before dawn. The sky had turned an odd sort of blue-green color as the first pale rays of light started to shine over the ocean. A soft breeze, warmer than the chilly winds of the night before, played with Inwë's hair as she stepped into the inn. She irritably smoothed it down with her hand and looked around the darkened room. A few guttering candles were still burning and dripping wax onto the dirty floor. Inwë had to avoid shards of broken glass as she worked her way towards the rooms in the back.

Once she was safely across the "battlefield" of the previous evening, she banged on the wooden door of the room she and her fellow authoresses had planned on sharing before the Shadow Will attacked. There was no answer. Already moody from being up at unusual hours, Inwë kicked the door near the rusty handle. It swung open with minimal splintering. The noise managed to slowly awake Mer and Cap'n, who were sprawled in hammocks: one next to the door and one by the grimy window that overlooked the street. Cap'n was the first to regain consciousness to the point where she could grin apologetically at Inwë.

"Sorry, mate…'twas a late night 'n' all…must've overslept…" she muttered as she reached for her sheathed cutlasses. Mer's ears twitched as she came out of whatever dream she had been having. She blinked, wide-eyed, as Inwë folded her arms and waited for her companions to gather their things. As is often the case with sleepy teenage girls, it took twice as long as it should have.

On their way out of the tavern, Inwë looked around for the bartender. He was nowhere to be seen. The authoress figured that he must either have fled into the night or was hiding in the cellar with a few bottles of rum. However, before she could mention it to the others, they had swept into the kitchen and started rummaging through the drawers.

"Uh…what are you doing?" Inwë asked blankly as Cap'n handed her a loaf of bread.

"Salvaging," the two pirates replied in unison. Inwë rolled her eyes heavenward and smacked herself on the forehead.

"Bloody pirates."

"Yep," Cap'n replied cheerfully, "Now help me find a bag or something to put this stuff in." Inwë grumbled some more and looked around for a sack of some kind. She spotted an old, ragged cloth bag hanging from a hook next to the back door. She strode over to it, grabbed it, and raised an eyebrow when she found it half-full of gold coins and some yellow notes that had to be gil (Inwë didn't know because Inwë had never actually seen any _real_ gil). Mer's eyes widened in delighted shock when she saw it.

"MONEY! No more begging for food!"

"No more settling for second rate rooms!"

"No more stealing!" Inwë chimed in happily. Mer and Cap'n gave her dirty looks.

"We're _pirates_," Cap'n said loftily.

"I'm not," Inwë reminded her smugly. The pirates glared at the Turk, who grinned and tossed the bag to Mer. She yawned again, her momentary guilt over the theft of the money vanishing, and picked up a hunk of cheese from the cutting board. She reached down and pulled her throwing knife out of her boot. While Cap'n and Mer continued "salvaging" materials from the kitchen, Inwë methodically cut the cheese into slices and munched on them. In ten minutes Cap'n declared that there was nothing useful left. Mer eyed the sack skeptically. It contained only a loaf of bread, two more large squares of cheese, and some beef jerky.

"It almost makes one think that someone else was here before us," Inwë mused without looking up from her cheese. Cap'n and Mer exchanged glances.

"Do you think someone managed to sneak in and steal all the food?" Mer asked. Inwë shot her a look.

"They'd have to be pretty good to get past me."

"Even after a battle when you're all worn out?"

"_Especially_ after a battle. The adrenaline keeps me awake for hours."

"Then we're dealing with an expert," Cap'n interjected before Inwë could get her feathers ruffled (pun intended…again).

"Or the bartender was a better judge of character than we thought and cleaned the place out before we could steal it," Inwë added thoughtfully.

"He would have taken the money with him," Mer pointed out. Inwë chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of her head. Cap'n sighed.

"Ok, enough talk. Let's keep our eyes open and head on to Junon. Savvy?" she ordered sharply. Inwë and Mer saluted. The Turk slipped her throwing knife back into her boot, shoved the rest of her cheese into her mouth, and walked out of the run with her hands in her pockets. Mer followed, flanked by Cap'n. They took one last look around the ruined tavern before heading out the door.

The road to Junon ran alongside the coast with very few trees or brush obstructing the path. It made for a beautiful view and – as Cap'n pointed out with a relieved sigh – nothing for enemies to use for cover. That didn't mean the trio was not on their guard. The two pirates made an effort to appear relaxed, but Inwë was tense and snappish as they worked their way towards the port city. At noon they stopped next to the road and ate the beef jerky and bread and washed it down with water from a nearby stream. Inwë took the opportunity to take out their borrowed maps and go over them once more. She tried to keep her attention on Junon, but her eyes constantly wandered towards "Corel Prison" and The Void. She couldn't shake off the feeling that something important was hidden there.

"Anything interesting?" Cap'n asked. Inwë jumped sharply and glanced over her shoulder. Cap'n had an uncanny way of sneaking up on people.

"Not really," she replied, "This 'Void' place and 'Corel Prison' bother me." Cap'n sat down next to her fellow authoress and peered at the fading paper.

"Hmm. They seem to be original places, unless this 'Corel Prison' is the same one you were talking about."

"Unlikely. I can't see _anyone_ successfully moving the real Corel Prison from the middle of a desert to a forest without seriously messing up its effectiveness."

"Huh?" Mer asked as she looked up from the pack of food, a thick slice of cheese in one hand and a strip of beef jerky in the other. Inwë sighed.

"The real Corel Prison was put in a desert for a reason," she explained, "It was poorly constructed and there weren't many guards, so prisoners could walk out at will. The catch was the desert. It's impossible to walk across it to escape – trust me, I tried."

"What do you mean, 'I tried'?" Cap'n demanded suspiciously. Inwë coughed.

"Well anyways, moving the real Corel Prison to a forest would make it much more difficult to guard. They'd have to put a fence around it, wasting manpower, and then keep an armed guard stationed there, wasting even more manpower."

"So…" Mer said slowly, "It's most likely just named 'Corel Prison' to confuse people." Inwë nodded and leaned back on her elbows, frowning in concentration. Cap'n watched her curiously and Mer surveyed them both over her cheese. After a few minutes, Inwë scooped up the map and rolled it up with a snap.

"Are we done here? Good. With some luck we'll make it to Junon by nightfall. Hopefully we won't run into any trouble while -."

"Hey, are you ladies lost?" inquired a young male voice from the road. Inwë twisted around awkwardly with her sword half out of its sheath. Cap'n pulled out her twin cutlasses and held them up threateningly, while Mer cocked her pistol and glared at the newcomer. A boy of about eleven or twelve sat in the driver's seat of an old wagon pulled by two sturdy chestnut draft horses. He was tanned and his blonde hair was bleached almost white by the sun. Curious blue eyes stared at the trio uncertainly.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Mer snapped. The boy gave her a broad grin and chuckled nervously.

"The name's Bram. I was on my way back to Junon when I saw you three. Do you need a ride?" Inwë was beginning to wonder how he had managed to sneak up on them with a carriage and horses in tow.

"And why would you give us a ride?" Cap'n asked carefully. Bram shrugged.

"My dad always says to look out for other people."

"And your father is…?"

"His name's Jeremiah. He runs the ferry between Junon and Edge." Inwë and Cap'n exchanged looks. Encounters like this were very rarely coincidences, at least not in video games. Either it was a trap, or it was their surest route to victory. Mer must have thought it was the latter, because she lowered her pistol and smiled back politely.

"Er…we're not lost. But my feet hurt, so…" She turned and stared expectantly at her companions. Inwë sighed deeply and slipped her katana back into its sheath.

"Caution will gain us nothing. We're already short on time as it is," she declared dramatically before climbing into the back of the wagon. Bram blinked at her. Cap'n and Mer exchanged glances, put their weapons away, grabbed the remains of their stuff, and hopped in after their friend.

* * *

Back in the real 7th Heaven, Amaya was washing glasses and handing them to Ayame to be dried. The sisters worked in silence, neither mentioning the fact that Aki wasn't answering her phone and even Shelke was starting to get worried. It had been twelve hours since they had last been able to contact their friend. The tension between the remaining friends and characters was getting to be uncomfortable.

The bell over the bar door suddenly rang; making Ayame jump and Amaya drop the glass she was washing. It landed in the sink with an audible crack. Amaya ignored it. The person who had opened the door was limping over to the bar, panting heavily. Her long black hair was half out of its ponytail and there was blood on her fingers.

"Aki! What happened? Sit down, let me get some bandages and water," Amaya ordered her sharply. Aki shook her head violently.

"I'm fine…Rufus…kidnapped…redheaded woman…gotta go after them…" she gasped.

"Rufus Shinra can wait. Now sit down before you collapse!"

"But…the woman…she could lead us to the others!" Amaya paused with one hand in a drawer and the other on a bottle of disinfectant. Aki had a valid point.

"Fine. Aya, you stay here and help Aki get cleaned up. I'll go and see if I can -."

"I have to go with you!" Aki protested, "You don't even know where to look. And so far I'm the only one who's seen this woman close up, so I'm the only one who can recognize her." Amaya growled something and nodded reluctantly.

"All right. Let's go! Aya, watch the bar for me." Amaya grabbed her katana and beckoned to Aki to follow her out the door. In a moment the two teenagers were gone, leaving Ayame standing by herself.

"Ummm…."


	9. Junon

**A/N: The muse is a little better today. Hopefully it'll stay better…**

* * *

Inwë had not been in Junon for quite some time due to…certain circumstances, but even though it had been a while she still felt comfortably at home in the lively port town. At least, she _would_ have felt comfortably at home if she didn't have the feeling that she was being watched. She spent most of the drive to the docks craning her neck to take in the city and search for anyone who was giving the small party undue notice. She didn't spot anyone suspicious, but her paranoia persisted.

"Inwë? Are you ok?" Mer asked. Inwë jumped and turned her head sharply. Mer was staring at her quizzically, tail wagging slowly and ears twitching back and forth. She looked exactly like Inwë's old dog, Abby, when she was curious about something.

"Huh?" Inwë replied blankly.

"You were zoning out again," Cap'n remarked with a yawn. Mer nodded vigorously.

"Yeah! I was starting to get worried! Do you want more cheese? Cheese always makes me feel better," she added with a wolfish grin. Inwë blinked.

"I'm fine. I just can't shake the feeling that we're being watched."

"We probably are. Who knows how many spies these people have?" Cap'n sighed dejectedly, "I wish I knew where James was. I don't like the idea of him being out by himself." The other two fell silent, both thinking of their own pets and bodyguards and friends whom they were worried about. Bram, up in the driver's seat, turned around and smiled sympathetically at the trio.

"I don't know anything about your situation, but it sounds like you've got some searching to do," he observed cheerfully.

"Don't remind us," Inwë murmured. Just then they passed a bar that was stuffed between two item shops. The door was open and Inwë had a serious déjà vu. She could remember going into that bar dressed as a Shinra MP along with Cloud. They had encountered the Turks who, fortunately, were off duty and didn't even recognize the authoress and her friend. Perhaps…

"Inwë, you're doing it again. Pay attention!" Cap'n snapped, though not unkindly. Inwë twitched and shook her head to clear it.

"Apologies, miss," she muttered before settling down in her seat and staring at the floor. It might have looked like she was sulking, but she was really thinking rapidly. Could the Turks be in the bar, just as they had been all that time ago? The authoress shot her two companions a sidelong glance. If it turned out to be a wild goose chase she didn't want them getting their hopes up. Not to mention there could be trouble if anyone from the canon Junon suddenly remembered her. AVALANCHE and the Turks alike had not been popular in that town.

"Wow!" Mer exclaimed randomly, "I thought you said your dad ran a _ferry_!" The other two girls looked up and stared at the cargo ship that their wagon had stopped next to. Bram laughed.

"Well…they just call it a ferry because the only trips we make are between here and Edge. People always catch a ride with us, so we started getting a reputation for being a free transport…"

"Ah, I see," Cap'n said. Inwë continued to observe the boat without comment. It looked a lot like another ship Inwë had sailed on in the _Final Fantasy VII_ world. Before she could say as much to the others, Bram had jumped out of the cart and started unloading a few packages from the back of the wagon. The teenagers took it as a sign to get out.

"Thanks for driving us here," Mer said brightly. Bram smiled at her and nodded.

"We set sail at sunset, but until then things are pretty boring around here. As long as you don't get yourselves lost I would suggest exploring the town. It's quite interesting!" he assured them. Inwë snorted.

"It is that. Hey, you two…will you be ok by yourselves for a few hours?" she added with a questioning look towards her friends. Cap'n raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. Why?" she demanded.

"There's something I have to do, but I want to go by myself," Inwë replied flatly. She turned on her heel and stalked off without further explanation. Mer and Cap'n stared after her blankly.

"Should we go after her?" Mer inquired uneasily. Cap'n frowned.

"I dunno. She does know this place better than we do, so she should be all right. And if she catches us following her she'll be moody for days."

"Yeah. I guess you're right."

"Of course I'm right. I am chief!" Mer smacked herself on the forehead and beckoned for Cap'n to follow.

"C'mon. Let's take a look around while we wait."

* * *

Inwë stood outside the bar door and stared at it. There were lots of reasons for her not to open it. First of all, she was underage and she wasn't allowed in bars. Second of all, she wasn't well liked in Junon (assuming anyone remembered her) and there could be trouble. Thirdly, it was just plain stupid for a teenage girl to go into a bar by herself. But the biggest reason she didn't want to open that door was that she was scared of what she would – or wouldn't – find when she walked in. She fought that fear for a few minutes before slowly lifting a hand and pushing the door. It swung inwards, revealing a room lit by small windows and dim electric lights. There was a counter on the far side of the bar. Five or so stools were lined up in front of it, but none of them were occupied. A potted plant on the left side of the room was the only source of color besides the fading photographs that were hung on the walls. A ceiling fan made a soft humming noise as it spun lazily and sent waves of not-quite-cool air towards the ground. When daylight flooded the room from the open door, the ageing bartender looked up from his magazine and peered at Inwë.

"Can I get you something, miss?" he asked in a husky but polite voice. Inwë stared at him for a moment.

"Do you have any root beer?" The man looked surprised at the order but nodded.

"One root beer coming right up. Please have a seat, miss," he said while gesturing to one of the five stools. Inwë took the one next to the window and waited patiently for her soda. While she waited she started arguing with herself about how long she would wait before admitting that the Turks were not in Junon. She was still debating when the bartender returned with a glass of cold root beer. Inwë took a sip just as she decided that she would wait exactly thirty minutes.

Inwë had been waiting for twenty-five minutes and some odd seconds when the door opened and filled the room with sunlight. The bartender forced a smile.

"Hello, sir. The usual?" he asked coolly. The man who had walked in slid into the stool farthest from Inwë and sighed.

"Yes, thank you," he replied without making eye contact with the man. The authoress watched him out of the corner of her eye for a moment before turning to look straight at him. The newcomer was a man in his thirties or so, with long black hair and a worn expression. He wore a dark blue suit with a black tie and managed to look attentive and professional despite his weariness. Inwë at first thought his eyes looked glazed over, but after a second they seemed to clear up. The man shuddered and rubbed his forehead, then looked around in bewilderment.

"Oh…I'm here again," he muttered bitterly. He looked around the room for a few moments until his eyes rested on Inwë. The authoress looked delighted.

"Sir! You're here!" she exclaimed, getting up from her seat and moving so she could sit next to her boss, "I was thinking we'd never find you, sir!" The man blinked at her.

"Inwë? What are you doing here?" he asked blankly. Inwë immediately straightened up.

"Inwë Elendil, alias Suzume Kuromiu, here on a rescue mission with fellow authoresses Mer and Cap'n. And I must add, Tseng, it's good to see you're not out of it," she said seriously. Tseng smiled wryly as he got over his initial shock.

"I _am_ out of it. Half of the time everything is just a big stretch of black. I'll wake up and find myself here, or in my hotel room, or somewhere near the docks. I'll be able to stay conscious for an hour or so and then it all goes black again," he explained. Inwë's eyes narrowed.

"That sounds like Sue possession, or…" She paused and grimaced. "It could be the game's A.I. trying to override your sense of independence. It was like this when I went into the _Kingdom Hearts _realm, but it wasn't nearly this bad." She sat back in her seat for a moment and thought things over. The _Final Fantasy VII_ characters in Kingdom Hearts had not recognized her when she had met them, though the not-Cloud hadn't seemed surprised when Inwë mentioned Sephiroth. In that case their lack of remembrance had been because they weren't the real, canon characters. This time around it seemed more like the game or whoever was controlling it was trying to force the canon characters to behave in certain ways.

"Sir…may I ask how you got here?" Inwë asked slowly when her mind had settled down. Tseng took a sip of his drink and nodded.

"I'll tell you what I can. These 'conscious' periods only last about an hour, so I don't have much time."

Tseng went on to explain that he had been sorting papers in his office while he waited for Elena to come back with some files. While he was waiting, there was a knock on his door. He opened it and found himself face-to-face with a group of people, all wearing baggy black clothes and a mask of some kind. Their leader was a redheaded woman named –

"Inari?" Inwë suggested hopefully. Tseng gave her a startled look, not used to being interrupted, and inclined his head slightly.

"That's what her subordinates referred to her as. How did you know?"

"Something we picked up on the way. What did she look like?" Tseng closed his eyes in concentration and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"She was a few inches taller than you, and very pale. She had bright red hair and amber eyes. I can't tell you much else, since she had a scarf tied around her face. She fought with two _kodachi_ and an assortment of shuriken and _kunai_." Inwë looked surprised.

"She sounds like a ninja. That's a little…odd. Did she have a Wutai accent?"

"No. She sounded more like she came from Midgar, but she didn't speak much." Inwë fell silent and pondered the information while Tseng continued his story about the night he'd been kidnapped:

Before Tseng had been able to do anything, he had been overpowered and handcuffed, then force-fed him some kind of drug. His vision was foggy after that but he was still aware of what was going on. The redheaded woman and her followers had tossed Tseng into a van along with Elena, who was unconscious, and Rude, who looked like he had been through a hard fight. Tseng passed out shortly after that and didn't remember anything up until he had first entered a 'conscious' stage while in Junon.

Inwë looked horrified by the time her boss had finished his story. This redheaded woman was sounding more and more dangerous every time her name came up.

"Sir, I'm just sorry I wasn't there to prevent all this," the authoress said at length. Tseng waved her off.

"They would have just killed you. It's better that you can do something about this."

"And I will, sir!" Inwë agreed heartily, "Starting right now! I'm glad that I found you, sir. We can send you home right away."

"You can't."

"…What?" Inwë stared at her boss, unsure if she had heard him correctly or not. Tseng gave her a dark look.

"According to what that woman Inari said, it's impossible to free us even if we are 'conscious'. Everything is too close to being canon for you to change it."

"But, sir -!"

"There is something you could do," Tseng said in a low voice, "I'm not sure, but if you destroy the people who are doing this I don't think this so-called 'canon' will last very long."

"You mean Nomura-sama? I couldn't destroy anyone who's real!"

"I don't think Nomura is behind this." Inwë tipped her head to one side and stared at Tseng quizzically. The senior Turk took another long sip from his glass and didn't say anything for several seconds. Then he turned to Inwë and gave her a stern look.

"For the time being, you'll have to act as a Turk. Here are my orders: locate Reno and Rude -."

"Sir, what about Elena?" Tseng gave Inwë a grim look.

"She's here in Junon, but she's completely oblivious to what's going on. They forced a rather nasty personality on her," Tseng added darkly. Inwë imagined Elena acting exactly like Larxene from Organization XIII and had some idea of what Tseng meant.

"Anyway, find Reno and Rude and see what condition they're in," Tseng continued, "If you can, get them to go with you. Find out what's going on and deal with whoever's responsible. Our top priority is stopping these people from getting their hands on Rufus Shinra."

"Don't worry, sir," Inwë reassured him dryly, "Rufus wouldn't be in any danger even if these people caught him. He'd make a deal with them within an hour and get away without injury." Tseng snorted.

"You're right. But that's not the point; we _must_ protect Rufus at all costs, and that means restoring canon. Also," he added, "Don't tell your companions about any of this. It's not that I don't trust them, but we don't want too many people finding out about this, for their own safety." Inwë nodded to show she understood and then grinned broadly.

"This means I get to be a Turk! Thank you, sir, I've always wanted to join!" she all but squealed. Tseng glared at her and she stopped smiling.

"You are _not_ a Turk, Inwë. You will _never_ be a Turk, not if I can help it. This is an emergency situation and thus you are only going to remain a member of the Turks until this emergency is over. Do I make myself clear?" he told her firmly. Inwë looked like someone had thrown a bucket of icy water in her face. She stood up from her seat at the bar, sliding her stool back so quickly that it almost overturned.

"Why can't I be a Turk? Don't tell me I'm not old enough! I know perfectly well that people younger than me have become Turks!" she replied furiously.

"You can't become a Turk because no one should become a Turk," Tseng answered flatly, "It's not a job that a child should be burdened with."

"I'm not a child! I want to join!"

"Why? What's your reason?" Inwë stopped short and simply stared. Tseng snorted in an "I see" sort of way and tucked his long hair behind his ears.

"_That_ is exactly why you can't be a Turk. People who join either do it because they have no other choice, or they want to prove something. _No one_ has _ever_ volunteered for any other reason. And as you don't even _have_ a reason, my answer will always be 'no'." Inwë was trembling with suppressed anger, but she couldn't bring herself to say anything. Just as she began to calm down, Tseng stiffened sharply. The glazed look started to creep back into his eyes. He smiled apologetically at Inwë.

"I'm sorry to discourage you. You'll be much happier if you're not in the Turks…believe me." The misty look completely covered Tseng's eyes and the smile slid off his face. He turned back to his drink and completely ignored the young authoress who was still watching him. Inwë didn't bother trying to snap him out of it. She knew he was gone.

* * *

Inwë took the long route back to the docks, purposefully dodging down side alleys every few blocks. She dragged her feet as she went, keeping her hood up despite the late afternoon heat and not looking up when people walked past her. She knew she was being childish, but she didn't feel like pretending to be cheerful and excited about her life when she was feeling so dejected. She was also thinking about what Tseng had said. _And as you don't even _have_ a reason, my answer will always be 'no'_… What _was_ her reason? She couldn't remember ever having one. All of the reasons she could think of weren't really why she wanted to be a Turk.

While she was thinking, she rounded a corner and found herself staring at Mer and Cap'n, who were standing on the far side of the alley. It took her a moment to realize what was holding their attention. A young woman was standing with her back to Inwë, obviously engaged in a conversation with the two authoresses. She was about Inwë's height, with sandy blonde hair a little longer than Inwë's.

"- to see the intruders made it this far in one piece!" she was saying.

"What do you mean by 'intruder'?" Inwë asked in her best Cloud voice. The woman jumped a foot and whirled around, sword in hand. Inwë blinked at her.

"Ah, and here's another!" the woman said in an attempt to appear calm and collected, "I was just saying how _delighted_ I am to see you all made it."

"Well, it's not like anything showed up that could have stopped us," Inwë pointed out.

"Yeah, and who _are_ you anyway?" Mer demanded. The young woman looked taken aback.

"I'm…wait…you don't know who I am…?" she stammered. The three authoresses shook their heads. The woman looked disappointed for a moment before she pulled herself together and twirled her sword dramatically.

"I am Yoko, guardian of 'Corel Prison'! None can stand before me!" she proclaimed dramatically. Inwë continued to stare at her blankly. After a minute she turned around and walked back the way she had come.

"HEY!" Yoko shouted at her, "Don't just walk away from me! Get back here!"

"How troublesome," Inwë sighed as she kept walking. Normally she would not leave her two friends alone with an unknown enemy, but the authoress got the distinct impression that the others would be able to handle this "Yoko". At least, Inwë _hoped_ they'd be able to –

"I SAID DON'T WALK AWAY FROM ME!" Inwë stopped as Yoko materialized in front of her, blocking the path. Up close, Inwë could tell she was about eighteen and had bright aqua eyes that matched the tank top she was wearing. The kanji for "sea" was tattooed on her left shoulder. All in all, she seemed to be a lot like Yuffie from _Final Fantasy VII_ – arrogant, pigheaded, and loud. Whether or not she had any of Yuffie's good qualities was not something Inwë had time to debate.

"I don't have any argument with you, so if you'll excuse me -," Inwë said softly as she attempted to walk around the fuming Yoko. The other teenager grabbed her arm.

"Nobody ever just walks away from me, you worthless jerk!" Yoko snarled in a tone that suggested she very much wanted to call Inwë something else. The authoress turned her head slightly to stare at Yoko. Her dark blue eyes were wide, giving her an oddly savage look.

"I'm _really_ not in the mood to be patronized," she said in a dangerously quiet voice. Before the scene could get violent, however, Mer and Cap'n sprinted up.

"Hey…let go of her!" Mer panted. Yoko released Inwë abruptly, never taking her eyes off of her. Inwë's eyes relaxed once more into the half-closed, almost bored expression she adopted whenever she was around someone she didn't like or particularly care about. She stepped back so that there was a comfortable distance between herself and Yoko, stopping just out of range of the long katana Yoko was still gripping in her left hand. For another long minute the four girls glared at each other, regained their breath, and waited for everyone else to calm down.

"Look, what do you want?" Cap'n asked in an exasperated voice, "I've never even seen you before so I don't really want to fight. Can you just tell us so we can leave?" Mer shot her an annoyed look but sighed unhappily and nodded to show she agreed. Inwë kept her mouth shut and left her hands in her pockets so that Yoko wouldn't feel threatened enough to attack. Yoko, meanwhile, was staring around at the three authoresses as if she had only just realized she'd been cornered (which she probably had).

"I was sent here to inform you that we're well aware of how things stand."

"I beg your pardon?" Inwë said from behind Yoko, who jumped and nervously glanced at her over her shoulder.

"I…well, my boss says to tell you that we know what you're trying to do."

"Does he?" Inwë said skeptically.

"How do we know it's a 'he'?" Mer asked Inwë. The other girl considered the idea for a moment before saying "Mmm", which here means: "I see your point and you're probably right." Yoko looked scandalized.

"Of course he's a guy! Main villains are _always_ guys!" she protested indignantly.

"Maleficent wasn't," Cap'n reminded her, though it was impossible to tell for sure if Yoko had ever heard of _Kingdom Hearts_, "And the witch from _Snow White_, the evil stepmother from _Cinderella_, Ursula from _The Little Mermaid_ – oh, grow up Inwë!" – Inwë had made a face at the dual mention of Ursula and _The Little Mermaid_ – "and a bunch of others." Yoko looked rather annoyed.

"Who cares? My boss just said to tell you to stop trying to save canon."

"A meaningless effort," Inwë told her darkly, "You can't kidnap the people we care about and expect us _not_ to retaliate."

"Retaliate?" Yoko asked in a nervous, high-pitched voice. Apparently Inwë's word choice had frightened the other teenager, because she vanished in a swirl of black smoke. Inwë, Cap'n, and Mer were left standing where they were, staring blankly at the place where Yoko had been seconds before. Cap'n and Inwë exchanged startled looks.

"That exit looked a lot like…"

"I know," Cap'n agreed grimly, "It was 'exactly similar'." Mer looked totally confused.

"What? What did it look like?"

"It looked just like the way members of Organization XIII usually teleport."


	10. En Route to Edge

**A/N: I'm sorry it took me so long. I've been really busy and I was working on another project. The break gave me time to recover some muse, at least. **

* * *

The sun began to set shortly after the trio returned to the docks after their odd encounter with Yoko. Their conversation remained mercifully fixed on the girl's unusual exit, giving Inwë time to prepare a good explanation of where she had been for almost two hours and why she had been in such a dangerous mood when she had returned. The perfectly reasonable excuses she had ready turned out to be unnecessary, since neither Mer nor Cap'n questioned her about it. Cap'n was too busy explaining Organization XIII to a clearly baffled Mer.

"See, the group's made up of things called Nobodies, which are people without hearts -."

"Not that that makes them second-class," Inwë interjected darkly as she slung their bag of food over her shoulder and walked up the ramp onto the deck of the ferry.

"- And these Nobodies tried to get their hearts back by creating an artificial Kingdom Hearts," Cap'n continued, "But because Sora and Riku kept interfering, it backfired and the Organization was completely destroyed. The only remnants of it are Roxas – who is Sora's Nobody, don't ask me to explain – and, well…Inwë, I guess." Inwë gave her two companions a wide-eyed look.

"I'm not a Nobody! All I did was steal Riku's coat when he tossed it! Then again, I suppose I have the only one still in existence…" Her voice trailed off into muttering about how much she could sell her coat for if she was inclined to (which she wasn't). Cap'n sighed deeply and leaned over the side of the cargo ship, staring at the people running around on the docks below. Mer joined her and scanned the crowd for anyone who looked like Yoko, but there wasn't anyone who did. Most people were just waiting to say goodbye to friends and relatives who were heading back to Edge.

"You know, if this place wasn't in direct defiance of canon, I'd say it's pretty cool," Mer confided to Cap'n. The other authoress nodded.

"_Kingdom Hearts_ was a bit like this," Cap'n agreed. Inwë looked up sharply at the mention of _Kingdom Hearts_ before she went back to her murmured complaints. Just then, a tall man with the same bright blue eyes as Bram walked up to the trio.

"I'm Captain Jeremiah. We'll be leaving port soon, so make sure you have everything you need," he said. Inwë nodded to him and headed below deck to stow their bags somewhere out of the way. Cap'n wandered over to the other side of the deck to stare out at the waves. Mer sighed and leaned against the railing. She had the odd sense of being watched and turned her attention once more to the crowd on the docks below. It was thinning now that the ferry was about to set out, but one figure caught her eye. The person was clad in a long green cloak. His or her hood was up, but Mer could see two gleaming amber eyes from her place on the deck.

Later that evening, the three authoresses sat huddled together on the deck. It was surprisingly cold at sea that night, but they didn't want to venture below deck and join the numerous people already stuffed into different cabins. Inwë had retrieved their things as soon as it had become clear that they would not be sleeping in a cabin. She rifled through their food bag and extracted the last of the cheese. Mer and Cap'n eyed it mournfully – the meager dinner was nothing compared to the fact that they would now have to spend their hard-stolen money on something as trivial as food. Inwë seemed to have lost her appetite and picked at her share of the meal without much interest. Cap'n frowned at her.

"Are you all right? You look paler than usual and you're not eating."

"I'm fine," Inwë lied through her teeth, "I'm very tired and I don't like to eat this late."

"Like I believe _that_!" Cap'n scoffed, "James told me you're a night owl and can eat at any hour."

"He should have also mentioned how little I eat when I do decide to munch on something," the other girl replied. Cap'n realized after a second that Inwë had not reacted when she'd called Norrington by his first name. She eyed her friend uneasily after that. She was sure she had not imagined it. Inwë _was_ acting strangely. She pondered whether or not she should say as much to Mer, but there wasn't time. Inwë had turned slightly green and stood up. She was unsteady on her feet and staggered over to the railing. Cap'n knew what was coming but still winced when she heard Inwë being sick.

"I _knew_ something was wrong," she snapped as she got up and walked over to Inwë, "But I thought you didn't get seasick." Inwë gasped for breath and wiped her mouth with her sleeve. She was still a little green, but she appeared stable.

"I don't," she answered, "This is probably from being in the realms so long. It's never affected me this badly before." She swayed a little and sat down before she could topple over. Cap'n put a hand on Inwë's forehead and was alarmed to see that she had a slight fever.

"You're in rough shape. Did you eat anything in Junon that you might be allergic to?"

"Just a root beer, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't poisoned. The barman wouldn't have had a motive." Inwë gagged as she started to vomit again. She pulled herself up and leaned over the side of the ship. Mer had come over by now and stood to the side, looking worried.

"Do you need anything?" she asked anxiously.

"Some clean, cold water if you can get it," Inwë said when she could breath again. Mer hurried off and left Cap'n alone to try to tend to their sick friend. Inwë slid down onto the deck and sat with her back against the rail, head tipped back and eyes closed. Cap'n let her rest for a minute.

"Just how bad has this 'illness' become?" she demanded once she decided Inwë was fit to answer questions. The blonde authoress opened her eyes a crack and glared at her.

"I thought it would be more mild. Perhaps it's worse here because this place counts as two realms?" she wondered aloud. She grimaced as another wave of dizziness washed over her, but she didn't feel sick enough to throw up for a third time. Cap'n stared at her sadly but couldn't think of anything that would help.

"I'd cast a Cure if I knew how," she said. Inwë waved it off and smiled.

"Don't feel bad. I doubt it would work anyway. This is too…complicated." She let out a soft groan and put a hand on her stomach. "I really don't understand why it's so bad here. _Kingdom Hearts_ wasn't bad at all and that's a mix of many, many more worlds." Mer returned just then with a cup of water. She handed it to Inwë, who thanked her and sipped it slowly. The three sat or stood in silence while Inwë drank and Mer and Cap'n watched her nervously to see if she was recovering at all. After ten minutes Inwë set the cup down and relaxed slightly. She allowed her friends to help her to her feet and stumbled over to where they had claimed a small corner and laid out blanket for themselves. She collapsed on her blanket and fell asleep quickly. Cap'n was reassured to hear that her breathing was normal and she seemed to be sleeping soundly. She and Mer sat down on their own blankets and finished eating their cheese.

"Should we tell her to go back? She could be a danger to herself if she gets any worse," Mer said gravely. Cap'n shifted uncomfortably and stared at the small hunk of cheese in her hand.

"I don't know," she said, "She'd be furious if we suggested it. You know how she gets." Mer sighed and nodded. The two of them changed the subject and started discussing the Shadow Will they had encountered in Port Royal. Cap'n shared what she knew about the similar Shadow Sora of _Kingdom Hearts_, and Mer asked questions about the Heartless and what they looked like. They came to the conclusion that the creature they had fought seemed to be made of smoke rather than darkness, thus it was probably either not a Heartless or a new kind of Heartless that had never been seen before. Cap'n regretted having this conversation when Inwë was not awake, but there wasn't much for it. About half way through their talk, Captain Jeremiah wandered past on his rounds.

"Ah, talking about the Shadows, are you?" he asked darkly. Mer and Cap'n nodded.

"Can you tell us anything about them?" Cap'n asked hopefully. Jeremiah glanced around hesitantly.

"I really shouldn't leave the helm for long. My first mate is a capable sailor but he needs his sleep and I promised I'd take the night shift…"

"You can make it short! We only need basic information," Mer said eagerly. Jeremiah looked over his shoulder again and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"All right. I'll tell you what I know. The Shadows are…mist. They're mist or smoke…and they take the shape of people," he explained, "We used to think that they were ghosts, until they started impersonating the living. The weaker ones can only take the form of a dead person, but a particularly strong one can imitate a living person." Cap'n looked intrigued.

"That's fascinating! So they're not made out of darkness?"

"I don't think so."

"How do you kill one?" Mer asked. Jeremiah frowned thoughtfully.

"I've heard they can be killed in combat like anyone else. Aside from that, I don't know. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must be going." He bowed and walked off. Mer suddenly looked quite worried.

"So if the weak Shadows take the form of dead people…what if Will's dead?" she said in a very high voice. Cap'n patted her on the shoulder.

"Needn't worry, mate. That thing we fought was a minor boss at least. That's not weak. Well," she added, "at least not _that_ weak." Mer did not look all that comforted. She grumbled something about it being very late and curled up into a tight ball, her white tail curled around her and her ears twitching from time to time. Cap'n looked put out and chased her tail to keep herself busy. She only managed to trip and land hard on her back. Her tail flicked back and forth once in annoyance and she flattened her ears angrily. She stayed where she was on the ground and shot Inwë a look. The authoress had rolled onto her side and was still very white, her expression almost grim. Cap'n wondered if she was having nightmares. James had once told her that Inwë had terrible nightmares and would climb up onto the roof of the house to calm down afterwards. He hadn't known what the nightmares were about, since Inwë refused to admit she had them much less retell the details, but they couldn't be very pleasant if they were bad enough to keep her from sleeping.

After a while Cap'n felt her concentration lapsing. She tried to chase her tail a few more times but she simply didn't have the energy. With the greatest reluctance, she lay down and wrapped herself in her blanket. The last thing she thought before she drifted off to sleep was that they would be in Edge by tomorrow night…

* * *

**A/N: I'm really sorry this was so short. It's about 10:20pm right now and I'm tired. **


	11. Information

**A/N: You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you how busy I am, so no worries if you're angry with me for the wait. **

* * *

_Inwë felt cold. Her body wasn't responding to any of her commands. She didn't have time for this. She had to get up and find what she was looking for. If she didn't, something terrible would happen. Forcing herself to move, forcing herself to breathe, she stood up and stumbled down a hallway. All the doors lining the walls were padlocked and barred. There were no windows. The only source of light was the dim, flickering lights overhead. Inwë slipped a little on something wet on the floor. She looked down. She had stepped in a pool of blood. Blood…? She suddenly realized she could smell it, too. It was strong. She kept going. The smell got stronger as she went. She was close. She passed a mirror and stopped, horrified. The person staring back at her was badly injured: her face was cut and bruised, a trickle of blood was running down her face from a deep wound above her temple, more was running out of the corner of her mouth…_

"Inwë! Wake up! You're dreaming!" snapped an alarmed voice. Inwë half opened her eyes. Cap'n was staring at her. Once she saw that the other girl was fully awake, she sighed.

"I was worried. You were moaning and I thought maybe you couldn't wake up," Cap'n explained, relieved. Inwë coughed and sat up. Her vision blurred and she felt sick as dizziness washed over her. She held still for a moment, waiting for her balance to return. When it didn't, she leaned back and put a hand over her eyes.

"I feel terrible," she commented. Her mouth was dry and her words came out as a croak. She heard Cap'n sit down next to her.

"You have a fever, mate. You need to take it easy, savvy?" she explained in a calm, soothing voice. Inwë cracked a grin.

"No need to use that tone with me. I'm no invalid." Inwë looked around curiously and tried to ignore the way her head was spinning. The sun was already high overhead and the metal deck was hot under her hands. She could hear waves crashing against the side of the ferry and a warm breeze was blowing. Something seemed like it was missing and it took a while for her to figure out what it was.

"Where's Mer?" she asked. She sounded weak and tired even to herself. Cap'n folded her arms and sighed.

"She's exploring. She sat with you all day while I stretched my legs, so I told her to take a break." Inwë felt her face grow hot and knew it had nothing to do with her fever or the heat.

"You guys don't have to fuss over me like this, I'm not a toddler. If I'm this sick I don't force myself to get up."

"As if you could even if you wanted to," Cap'n muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing! Nothing at all!" Inwë rolled her eyes and swallowed. She needed water. She hadn't eaten anything except a little cheese the night before but she felt no desire for food of any kind. She was like that when she was sick – she drank water like mad and ate nothing. Once, when she'd gotten pneumonia, she hadn't eaten anything for three weeks in a row. She would have to be careful not to repeat that experience if things got too bad while she was still in this realm.

"Cap'n…I'm thirsty, could you bring me some water please?" she murmured. Her head felt heavy and her throat was burning. Cap'n got up quickly and scrambled out of Inwë's line of sight. She returned in a moment with a canteen.

"Here, lift your head up," she ordered the sick authoress. Inwë sat up slightly with effort and gulped down the water gratefully. It eased her aching head somewhat but she still felt like she was made of lead. She drank as much of the water as she could without choking and then leaned back on the deck, closing her eyes against the sunlight. Everything started tilting again and she dug her fingers into the blanket she was lying on.

"Ugh..." she moaned, "I resent…being this out of it…a _real_ Turk wouldn't…" She couldn't finish her sentence; it was too much work. She tried to relax and rest, but the words she hadn't said were still circulating in her mind: _a real Turk wouldn't be this weak._ No wonder Tseng had said she would never be a Turk. Inwë felt disgusted with herself.

"Hey, you're awake!" said a cheerful voice from overhead. Inwë forced her eyes open and saw Mer staring down at her, fluffy white tail wagging and ears perked forward. They smiled weakly at each other.

"Hello, Mer. How does the ship look?" Inwë asked while trying to adjust her tone so she didn't sound as frail. Mer, like Cap'n, was not so easily fooled. She continued to smile tolerantly and sat down next to Cap'n.

"The ship's just fine. I'm sorry that you haven't had a chance to see it too…"

"Don't worry about it, I've seen these kind of ships before," Inwë replied with a small wave, "Hey, we haven't called in to check on Shelke and everyone in a couple of days." Mer and Cap'n decided to ignore the strategic way she was changing the subject. Instead, Mer rummaged through Inwë's bag (much to the invalid's annoyance) and pulled out the cell phone. She flipped it open, punched the numbers in, and set it to speaker.

* * *

In the 7th Heaven, Sakura was snoozing in her computer chair. It was about three in the morning and the three authoresses had been inside the game for almost forty-eight hours. Of course, there was no way of telling how much time had passed inside the game. According to what Inwë had said about video games, twenty-four hours of "real time" can equal just about anything in "game time". Sakura wasn't thinking about this because she was asleep, but Shelke – who was pretending to doze while keeping one eye on the monitor – was wondering just how long the authoresses had been inside the world. It had only been hours since Rufus was kidnapped, but it still felt like an eternity. Aki and Amaya had returned to the bar empty-handed at around eleven. They had been searching for hours and hadn't even found a trace of Rufus or the redheaded woman. It was as if they didn't even exist. The two authoresses had collapsed in cots Aya had set up for them, only staying conscious long enough to pass on their findings and get Aki's wounds treated. At the moment they were still sound asleep. Shelke didn't know how much sleep normal humans needed on average, but she thought the teenagers should all sleep for a while longer. Shelke hadn't really needed sleep in years – not as much as everyone else, anyways – but she still liked to let her eyes rest from time to time.

Of course, it just so happened that the phone rang just as Shelke was beginning to slip into a deeper level of unconsciousness.

Shelke's eyes snapped open and she snatched up the phone with an annoyed frown. Sakura jerked awake and looked around wildly for the source of the noise.

"What's that? What's -? Who -?" she stammered as she sat up and rubbed the drowsiness out of her eyes. Shelke shook her head and put a hand over the receiver.

"Please be quiet. I'm trying to answer the phone." Sakura smiled at the mention of the telephone.

"Inwë! Tell her I say hello!" Shelke sighed and put the phone to her ear.

"Hello? This is Shelke speaking."

"Hi! Yo! _Moshi moshi!_" called three voices. Shelke quickly set the phone to speaker as she realized who was calling.

"Please keep your voices down. It is quite early in the morning here and your friends are trying to sleep," scolded Shelke calmly. She heard Inwë mutter an apology in Japanese.

"Suzume-chan! _Konbanwa_!" Sakura said happily.

"Sakura-chan!" Inwë replied in an equally cheerful voice that few present had ever heard before. Inwë was unusually hyper when she was around her friends.

"What's been going on over there?" Cap'n interjected before their conversation could get too lengthy. Shelke and Sakura fell silent. The atmosphere got very tense very quickly.

"What happened? Is everyone all right? Are the kids ok?" Inwë demanded quickly before she succumbed to a coughing fit.

"Inwë, relax. You'll make it worse," Mer snapped from their unknown location in the game world. Sakura looked concerned.

"Make what worse?"

"Tell us your news first," Inwë replied before either of her companions could answer.

"Rufus Shinra was kidnapped."

Silence.

"…_What_?" Inwë managed after several seconds. She didn't sound particularly worried, but there was something stressful in her tone. Sakura was sure there was something else on her mind. Shelke hurriedly explained everything that Aki had told them and what had happened since. Everyone was (not surprisingly) more interested in how Aki's injuries were healing up and what Inari was like than in whether or not Rufus was all right. Inwë seemed obligated to ask, though. After all, she _was_ a Turk…however temporarily.

"Rufus is smart, I'm sure he'll be fine," Sakura said without much concern.

"Tch. He'll probably show up in a day or two without a scratch on him."

"Really? Why do you think so?" Shelke asked out of curiosity.

"He's Rufus Shinra. In all the years I've known him, he has never once been injured. He's too…" Inwë trailed off. She seemed to be incapable of describing what exactly Rufus was. No one spoke for several moments as they digested the information.

"Rufus Shinra aside," Cap'n began again slowly, "how has everyone else been?"

"We haven't told Denzel and Marlene about any of this yet. We don't want them to panic," Sakura replied, "And since they don't know what's going on I'd say they're fine. Ayame's been babysitting them."

"That's good to hear," said Inwë.

"How are you three?" Shelke asked. Sakura leaned forward so she could hear. She was suspicious of Inwë at the moment. That cough hadn't sounded too good.

"Inwë's very sick," Mer explained. Inwë could be heard protesting in the background.

"She's got a fever but it's not as bad as it was last night," Cap'n added.

"You should come back, Inwë," Shelke said seriously.

"Never!" Inwë growled, "My bodyguards are still here and I'm not leaving without them!" Sakura and Shelke exchanged glances.

"It's useless," Cap'n sighed, "We've already tried talking her into going home."

"As pigheaded as always," Sakura muttered with a twitchy smile. Mer and Cap'n chuckled nervously. Inwë (though only her friends in the game world could see her) scowled at the cell phone and forced herself to sit up.

"Our plan is to continue on to Edge and then follow the road to Costa del Sol," she said coldly while she fought to ignore the way her sense of balance was rocking from side to side, "After that we're heading to Tortuga. I suspect…or, rather…well…" She stopped talking. Her promise to Tseng was battling the fact that the information she had was vital to their mission. Logic won in the end.

"I found out how Inari – the redheaded woman – managed to kidnap everyone and why none of the canon characters are conscious of what's going on. They've been drugged. I don't know with what, but I suspect it's something that links their minds to the game's A.I." In the game world, Mer and Cap'n stared at her blankly.

"How did you figure that out?" Mer asked. Inwë grimaced.

"I ran across…a canon character who was resisting the effects a little. He told me." No one spoke for a few minutes. Sakura was trying to figure out whom Inwë had talked to. Shelke was busy writing down what Inwë had said and thinking over possible ways to free people from the effects of this mystery drug. Mer and Cap'n were still staring at Inwë, both feeling put out that she hadn't mentioned this to them. Inwë wasn't thinking about anything. Her mind was wandering slowly and deliberately towards what would happen to Tseng if Inari and her unknown leader found out what he had said to Inwë. She hated the idea of being responsible for it.

"So," Shelke said at last as she straightened up from the notepad she'd been scribbling in, "These people are using drugs. They must have given this a lot of thought. However, I think their plan is flawed."

"How so?" Mer asked.

"Clearly this drug does not affect everyone the same way. The person Inwë talked to could resist it. Perhaps there are others who are completely unfazed by it…?"

"I hope so. It makes our job a lot easier," Cap'n agreed.

"This person also said…" Inwë continued quickly before she could lose her nerve, "He said that the only way to free the canon characters is to destroy the group behind the kidnappings."

"Any idea who they are?" Sakura asked hopefully.

"None -," Mer started to say, but stopped when she saw the look on Cap'n and Inwë's faces.

"The Organization!" Inwë exclaimed. She pulled up her hood out of habit and folded her arms, thinking.

"Maybe not. Just because it looks like they can use dark portals…" Cap'n trailed off and shook her head sadly. The two of them sulked.

"We'll look in to it on our end," Sakura reassured them, "And in the meantime…"

"…We'll keep searching for answers and our friends," Mer concluded. With that settled, they said good-bye and hung up to save the battery.

* * *

**A/N: I'm so sorry about the wait. Since school is starting I may take a while to update, but I promise I will! Things are about to get interesting! **


	12. Edge

**A/N: This is the most hectic school year in living memory (at least for me), so my updates will be scarce until everything quiets down. Please excuse any lapse in concentration on my part, which may result in plot holes, typos, time skips, and other undesirable occurrences. **

**Disclaimer: Square and Disney own all of it so far…and Mer and Cap'n (my only readers besides Mikol) created their own characters. So basically all I own is Inwë (myself). **

* * *

Inwë stubbornly spent the rest of the day gradually readjusting her balance and force-feeding herself some bread. Mer and Cap'n took turns keeping an eye on her, despite her complaints. Captain Jeremiah walked past on his rounds later in the afternoon and informed them all that they would be arriving in Edge by sunset. The news made Inwë uneasy. She didn't look forward to seeing what these mysterious villains had done to a town already devastated by war, disease, and unnatural disasters. The last thing it needed was to be flooded with _Pirate of the Caribbean_ characters and an anti-canon. It made Inwë think about Tseng again. She hoped he was all right.

"Well," she sighed, "I think I'm stable." She was leaning against the ship railing, her head still spinning lazily, and watching the seagulls dive for fish off the coast. It was almost sunset and the harbor of Edge was already within sight. Mer and Cap'n had rounded up their things and were sitting next to them on the deck. All was quiet.

"Huh!" Mer snorted loudly, disrupting the mood on the ferry, "I still think you should go home before this gets too bad, you silly llama." Inwë rolled her eyes, which made her remaining dizziness worse. She looked out towards the harbor. Edge was not supposed to be a coastal town, so that was one thing on her list of things the anti-canon had changed. At least there were no pirate ships docked in the bay. Mer scowled at the lack of piracy and wrapped her fluffy tail around herself, ears twitching back and forth irritably. Cap'n was acting more like a cat than usual and had curled up around her bag, snoozing in the warm sun. Inwë could have sworn she heard purring.

"Hmm. Llama or not, would _you_ abandon your pets if they were in danger?" Inwë asked, looking over her shoulder at Mer.

"I would not!" Mer replied indignantly. Inwë wagged a finger at her.

"Stop scolding me, then."

"But it's a different situation entirely! I'm not sick!"

"And neither am I…for the moment." Inwë stretched her arms out and yawned. She was tired, and her shoulders and wing joints seared with pain every time she moved. She regretted the fact that they would probably stay in a tavern that night, thus making it awkward for her to take off her coat and stretch her wings. People would ask questions – or would they? No one they had met had reacted to Mer and Cap'n's ears and tails. There was nothing wrong with _those_ oddities.

Wings, however, were a completely different matter.

"Cap'n, we're almost at the docks," Inwë drawled, slowly leaning down to pick up her bag. Captain Jeremiah had sold them each a small cloth pack, large enough to hold food and bandages or a change of clothes. The added weight – though minute – tilted Inwë's balance enough to make her feel seasick again. The wings were bad enough, useless things that they were. A bag with a third of their food and money (there was a lot of money) was just a nuisance.

"Hmm? What? We're there?" Cap'n asked as she sat up and stretched, tail curling into a question mark before dropping lazily at her side. She scratched behind her ears, got up, chased her tail, and grabbed her bag. She grinned broadly at the sight of the small town. Even at dusk, there were no lights on.

"I bet it's deserted again," Inwë muttered to herself, adjusting her sword belt so that her katana was easier to reach. She didn't like Edge much. If it had been up to her, Tifa and the gang would have relocated after the Deepground incident. _Ah, but relocate where? _That was a good question. There weren't many places as conveniently placed as Edge. Everything, even Wutai, was within a few days' travel. A remote region like Cosmo Canyon, which was probably the only place AVALANCHE would be welcome, would leave everyone too far away if another emergency like Deepground sprang up.

The passengers aboard the ferry crowded around the railing as the large boat made its way into the harbor. Captain Jeremiah ran around shouting orders to his crew, shoving unwary bystanders out of the way, and almost toppling Mer on his way to the helm. The authoresses huddled together after that and looked around nervously for any familiar faces in the small group waiting at the docks. There were none.

"This is getting depressing," Inwë sighed as she scanned the crowd once more, hoping to spot Cloud or Tifa.

"I miss Will!" Mer whined. Cap'n patted her on the back and peered around at the different people. Inwë flinched as she had the sudden urge to vomit, covering her mouth with one hand and doubling over. The ship was rocking unmercifully in the water and the remaining sickness – mostly what she had managed to hide from her friends – seemed desperate to latch onto her before she left the boat. She gagged and tasted bile in her throat, the acid burning painfully as she forced it back down. The taste in her mouth was repulsive.

"Ugh…" she moaned. The ship lurched abruptly as they docked and Inwë fell forward over the railing.

There was a brief moment when Inwë's mind hadn't registered the action of losing her balance. She drew a total blank during the split second that she could have used to stop her fall.

Then, just as she was starting to piece together the idea that she was about to land headfirst in cold salt water, a strong arm hooked around her waist and hauled her away from the edge.

"You should listen to your friends, Inwë," said a male voice in her ear, "If you stay here, you'll get yourself killed." Inwë's eyes widened and she turned her head sharply towards the voice. The mysterious man was already gone. Inwë looked around at the crowd slowly filing down the gangplank, but there were no suspicious characters, no people ducking their heads or trying to stay hidden. Had he really been there at all? Was she imagining things? Had it really been -?

"Inwë? We're leaving!" Mer called over the heads of some gossiping women. Inwë blinked and turned around. Her friends were staring at her quizzically.

"Oh…I just…" The authoress ran a hand over her eyes, sighing in frustration. She was going to worry them if she didn't pull herself together.

"Sheesh, pretty soon I'm gonna _force_ you to go home…" Cap'n muttered. Inwë's head snapped up and she grinned broadly to mask her momentary weakness.

"I'm fine, just a little dizzy. The light got in my eyes, and -."

"Yeah, yeah," Cap'n yawned, "We've been listening to your excuses all day. We know you're not as healthy as you say you are."

"So no matter what, we're staying in Edge tonight," Mer added. Cap'n nodded her agreement and started down the gangplank. Mer followed.

"Oi! What are you talking about? We could cover lots more ground before it gets too dark to travel!" Inwë protested as she hefted her bag more securely on her shoulders and scurried unsteadily after her friends. They seemed to be ignoring her arguments for the most part. They only paused briefly to thank Captain Jeremiah for his help before continuing on to the docks. Inwë nodded briefly to the sailor and jogged after her friends. Once her feet hit solid ground she swayed slightly as if she was still on the ship. Mer and Cap'n glanced at one another and jerked their heads towards Inwë in agreement about something. Inwë ran past them and turned around, walking backwards with questionable balance as she explained her master plan.

"Ah, well, I feel fine now. How about we skip the inn and just walk straight to – hey! Oi! Lemme go!" Inwë thrashed wildly as her friends each grabbed one of her arms and dragged her down the road to the main part of Edge. After several minutes of vain threats and struggling, Inwë settled down and allowed herself to be half-carried into town. She couldn't imagine a more undignified scenario. Well, perhaps she could…

The other two authoresses set her down when they got to the main square of Edge, seeing as they needed her for navigation purposes. Inwë, however, lost her bearing almost immediately. The town looked similar enough to its original self, except that there were eighteenth-century merchants flocking around the area. Stalls selling food, drink, clothes, and other items were scattered along the edges of the square. In the dark, narrow alleys a few shady dealers were conducting their business. Inwë caught sight of a couple of them – some were pirates, others were just the local variety. They glanced greedily at her before looking away when they saw the katana at her side.

"This is a little better than Port Royal was," Cap'n commented dryly as she surveyed the crowds and searched vainly for an inn. Mer's white ears were twitching in all directions as the numerous sounds and smells washed over her. Doubtless she was searching hopefully for Will. Inwë, in the meantime, tried to figure out how to get to the fake 7th Heaven from there.

"It was easier in _Dirge of Cerberus_ when the place was empty," she muttered, shading her eyes with one hand. Cap'n grunted a reply but seemed more interested in watching a pair of street rats pick pocketing a fat cloth vendor. The man noticed them in time and swatted them away like flies. The back of his hand smacked against a small boy's head, sending him to the ground. Cap'n tugged at Inwë's coat and pointed out the incident. Without really thinking about it or discussing it, the trio drifted over to see what would happen next. The boy, a runt of a child with shaggy black hair and worn clothes, got up from his spot on the ground and tried to dart away. The merchant reached out with surprising speed and grabbed the boy by his hair.

"Oi! How dare ye try to rob me, eh?" he snarled. The boy winced in pain as the man yanked on his hair. Mer started forward to help him, but Inwë held her back by the arm.

"Easy. The kids here are tough. Just you watch him," she said calmly without taking her eyes off the boy. He was struggling valiantly. With one hand he attempted to pry the merchant's thick fingers off his hair, and with the other he groped around for a weapon. There was a box of toothpicks resting on the edge of the merchant's stall. The boy grabbed a handful and stabbed them as hard as he could into the merchant's hand. The merchant howled in pain and released the boy quickly.

By now, of course, most of the merchants on either side had seen what was going on and tried to apprehend the boy as he made a run for it. A burly man – a merchant's bodyguard, Inwë guessed – brought a heavy wooden staff down on the boy's head. He dropped like a stone.

"This is getting serious. Let's interfere," Cap'n said bluntly. It wasn't open for debate. The three swooped down on the scene and drew their various weapons. In a moment the peddlers and their men found themselves facing three teenagers. Mer had drawn her pistol and her cutlass in one fluid motion, while Inwë was in a half crouch with her hand on her sword hilt.

"I think emotions have run a little high here," Cap'n pointed out as she too calmly pulled out her cutlasses. The vendors looked livid.

"That thieving brat should be punished!" spat the merchant who had first grabbed the boy. He was cradling his bleeding hand gingerly. Inwë, who was facing him, kept her face blank.

"A blow to the head like that is punishment enough, assuming he's not dead."

"Good riddance if 'e is, says I," another merchant snapped. There were approving murmurs.

"Did he even manage to steal anything?" Cap'n drawled lazily, twirling one of her cutlasses. Everyone looked expectantly at the man with a hand full of toothpicks. He scowled and shook his head. Mer growled at the bodyguard who had hit the boy.

"See! If he dies, then you murdered him!" she said in an angry voice. The man seemed unconcerned and merely leaned his staff against the wall.

"Here," Inwë said at length, straightening up and taking off her pack, "How about…oh, fifty gil for getting that wound treated?" The merchant snatched the wad of cash out of Inwë's hands and counted it with his good hand. The watching crowd was getting bored now that a fight wasn't about to break out. They started wandering away, talking amongst themselves, and continuing their shopping elsewhere. The vendors sighed.

"Now look what ye've done! All me customers are leavin'!" the cloth merchant said as he pocketed Inwë's money and glared at the authoresses. They ignored him and turned to check on the boy. Mer knelt next to him and checked his pulse.

"He's alive, but his breathing's kinda shallow," she said grimly.

"This is a bad place to be," Inwë murmured, "We should get out of here before we attract too much attention." Cap'n looked around and frowned. It was true, a handful of the thugs and shady dealers were emerging out of the darker alleys as they saw the crowds departing. Three young women would make good targets if there were no one to back them up.

"Here, help me carry this kid," Cap'n told Mer quickly as she handed her pack to Inwë and pulled one of the boy's arms over her shoulder. Mer did the same, and together the trio – with Inwë carrying their bags and keeping one eye on the thugs circling behind them – made their way down a side street and farther away from the center of the city. On the way Inwë kept her eyes open for landmarks, hoping to find something that would lead them to the 7th Heaven. Whether or not it was the real one, it would be safer there than out on the street.

"Left here," Inwë exclaimed as she recognized something. They dodged down an alley and came out by the back door of a bar.

"This is it?" Mer panted, glancing at her friend. Inwë chewed on her lower lip.

"I suppose. There can't be more than two or three bars in the whole town." Cap'n glanced down at the unconscious boy and shook her head.

"It doesn't matter. This kid needs a place to rest and someone has to check on that head injury."

"Aye," Mer agreed.

"Yeah." Inwë kicked the door and held it open for her friends. Once inside, they crept through the storeroom, down some stairs, and into the bar.

It was deserted for the most part. A man in his twenties or so was washing empty glasses behind the counter. He looked up sharply when the girls entered the room. Mer and Cap'n were breathing a little heavily and looked around for a place to set the boy down. Inwë, meanwhile, dropped their packs and gave the man at the counter a sharp, calculating look.

"You're Johnny, aren't you?"

"Yeah, that's me. Who the hell are you and what are you doing in my bar?" the man replied. Inwë raised an eyebrow.

"_Your_ bar?"

"Well…ok, Tifa's bar. I'm watchin' it for her 'til she gets back."

"I see…well, no time for questions now. This boy got hit in the head and we need to borrow a first aid kit or something." Johnny scowled, glanced at how pale the small boy had gotten, and grudgingly went to find the first aid kit from the back room. Mer and Cap'n found a bench to put the boy on and gently set him down. His breathing had become more even, but he was pale and there was blood running down the side of his face from the wound on the side of his head. Mer went and fished around behind the counter until she found some cloth napkins.

"He looks pretty bad," she said gravely as she wiped the blood off his face. The boy groaned slightly and moved his head away. His longish bangs shifted slightly and revealed dark smudges just under his hairline. Cap'n blinked and moved the hair a little more so she could see.

"Inwë…come look at this." Inwë stopped peering around for Johnny and walked over. As soon as she saw the smudges on the boy's head, her eyes widened.

"Geostigma," she breathed.


	13. The Stigma

**A/N: Wow…I take so long to update…and still only have three readers…should this one accept defeat and quit writing? Reno says I shouldn't, but what does **_**he**_** know?**

"Geostigma?" Mer repeated blankly when no one started to explain what the disease was. Inwë was in a kind of horrified trance and didn't answer. Cap'n, meanwhile, hastily backed away from the boy and rinsed her hands off in the sink behind the counter.

"Inwë, is geostigma contagious?" she asked. Her worried tone snapped the other authoress out of her musing. Inwë ran a hand over her eyes and sat down on a vacant chair.

"No…people used to think it was contagious, but it's not. It's…hmm. I don't know how to explain it without quoting Vincent." She looked over at the small child. He was breathing normally now, but he was still very pale.

"Is there a way to help him?" Mer asked hopefully, walking over and cleaning more blood off the boy's face with the napkins. Cap'n looked over to Inwë. Inwë closed her eyes.

"Not here. Even if he was returned to the _Final Fantasy VII_ world, it's unlikely that he'll recover." She sighed deeply and stared at her boots, feeling miserable. She hadn't been aware of any cases of geostigma after the events of _Advent Children_. Encountering one in the not-canon disturbed her. What kind of people would create a world and purposefully allow a disease like geostigma to infect people? She didn't like to think about it.

"Will he die?" Cap'n asked quietly.

"…Yeah." Mer, even if she didn't understand much of the _Final Fantasy_ vocabulary, understood that well enough. She looked mortified.

"But he's just a kid!" Mer protested, ears flat and tail no longer wagging. Inwë got up from her chair and went over to the window without answering. Just then, Johnny returned with the first aid kit and some extra cloth bandages. He looked around at the three authoresses with a puzzled look.

"Did I miss somethin'?" he asked suspiciously. Inwë tilted her head back slightly.

"The boy we brought here has geostigma." Johnny's eyes narrowed. He glanced over at the young child and shook his head.

"Since the World Collision, lots of kids have been gettin' the stigma again," he said dully. Inwë turned around sharply and walked over to Johnny, ignoring Cap'n's questioning look, peering at Johnny's eyes.

"They're glazed, just like Governor Swann's," she concluded, "That explains what he said about watching the bar while Tifa's away."

"Then where is Tifa?" Cap'n asked as Johnny disappeared into the back room again. Inwë shrugged helplessly and walked back to the window. She leaned her head against the glass and stared out at the darkening street. It was getting fairly late and only a few stray dogs and some drunken thugs were haunting the neighborhood. If the fake 7th Heaven had any patrons, they weren't coming tonight.

"Is it all right to stay here for the night?" Mer inquired, addressing Inwë. The authoress shrugged a second time.

"It should be. Even if the people who run this not-canon find out we're here, it's still safer indoors. Especially for that boy." Mer and Cap'n stared sadly at the dark-haired child. Even as they watched, he moaned and opened his eyes.

"He's awake!" Mer said excitedly. Inwë abandoned her musings and watched Mer help the boy sit up while Cap'n bounced off to get him a glass of water. The child had bright, wide blue eyes to accompany his shaggy black hair. He blinked at the three teenagers as he struggled to focus in on them.

"Take it easy," Mer said soothingly, "You got hit in the head pretty hard and we still need to bandage you up." The boy looked startled to be addressed directly and jerked away from Mer. He stood up, swaying dangerously, and dashed towards the back of the room like a trapped wild animal.

"Who are you?" he spat roughly, seeking a weapon with one hand. Cap'n's tail twitched irritably.

"We saved your life, in case you're wondering," she said loftily, sitting down on the bench and looking supremely offended by the boy's lack of gratitude. Inwë tipped her head to one side curiously.

"I'm Inwë. These are my friends Mer and Cap'n. Who might you be?" she demanded coolly. The boy's eyes darted back and forth between her and the others.

"Kazuki." Inwë repeated the name a few times to herself to see what it sounded like when she said it, then nodded to Kazuki.

"Are you going to let Mer tend to that head wound, or will Cap'n and I have to hold you down?" Kazuki glared sourly at Inwë and cautiously approached Mer, who took a look at the wound and bandaged it to the best of her ability. Inwë found herself wishing that they had figured out how to use their magic so Mer could cast "Cure" on the boy. What use were there powers if they couldn't be used? The authoress sat down again irritably and drummed her fingers on the tabletop until Cap'n shot her an annoyed look.

"How old are you, Kazuki?" Cap'n asked politely, reaching up with her back foot and scratching behind her ear. The boy watched her in fascination for a few seconds, which Cap'n found odd. None of the other people they had encountered so far had reacted to their unusual features.

"I'm ten," Kazuki replied after a second, still staring wide-eyed at Cap'n. He looked over at Mer and studied her ears and tail with a curious glint in his eye, sitting patiently as she cleaned the last of the blood off his face with a wet napkin.

"Why do you all have weird ears and stuff?" he asked.

"No idea. We got them when we arrived," Mer answered, smoothing the soft white fur on her ears.

"Why doesn't _she_ have them too?" Kazuki pointed to Inwë and eyed her suspiciously. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat and avoided eye contact with anyone in the room.

"Are you one of _them_, then?" the boy snapped, sitting up a little straighter in preparation for a quick escape.

"By 'them' I'm guessing you mean the idiots running this sham," Inwë said.

"Yeah. Them. Are you working for them?"

"No. I'm…er, some friends got kidnapped and I'm here to rescue them. We all are." Kazuki, instead of questioning them further, grinned broadly.

"Are you here to save Tifa?" The authoresses exchanged looks.

"Is she in need of saving?" Mer asked. Kazuki's face fell and he looked down at the floor.

"I don't know. I saw Tifa go on some errands in the real Edge-."

"You're from the real Edge?" Cap'n interrupted. Kazuki nodded enthusiastically.

"Yep. I was born in Midgar, though. My parents died when Sector 7 got blown up." Inwë flinched and scratched her shoulder in an attempt to mask the sudden movement. Cap'n shot her an inquiring look, which she ignored as well as she could.

"What about the stigma? Did you have it before you came here?" she inquired to change the subject.

"Yeah," Kazuki answered, "I lived in the Slums for a while until Meteorfall. I moved to Edge when they started building, but the geostigma didn't show up until I was nine. I didn't have it for very long."

"Anyways…what happened to Tifa?" Mer piped up. Kazuki rubbed the back of his head and took a deep breath.

"I followed Tifa on her errands 'cause she's really nice to the orphans around town and I like talking to her. I saw some people in masks attack her and inject her with somethin' – some kinda drug, I dunno what it was – and then she was unconscious and they put her in the back of a van. I ran up to try to save her but they grabbed me too."

"Did they drug you as well?" Inwë asked.

"No. When they dumped us here Tifa woke up and started asking questions about what had happened. She didn't act like Johnny does. After a while she told me to stay here in town while she went looking for Cloud and Denzel and Marlene."

"I see." Cap'n and Inwë glanced at each other and beckoned to Mer to come over.

"It sounds like Tifa resisted the drug completely," Mer whispered so Kazuki wouldn't hear.

"That's a good thing. It'll make our job easier," Inwë added.

"Aye, but that still leaves the little problem of getting everyone home. Savvy?" Cap'n added darkly.

"As I've already said, I was told that destroying the people behind the not-canon will restore the true canon," Inwë explained.

"Are you really up to killing someone?" Cap'n asked seriously. Inwë didn't answer right away, instead leaning back in her seat and staring at the tabletop in brooding silence.

"So then what are we to do?" Cap'n asked, "Just leave them here?" Inwë closed her eyes and snorted softly.

"I'll become a murderer before I let _that_ happen." She opened her eyes again and watched her companions expectantly.

"I wouldn't," Mer said with a delicate frown. Inwë shifted her gaze to lock on Cap'n.

"I'm with Mer on this one. We'll have to find a way to rescue everyone without anyone getting killed," the pirate replied to the unspoken question. Inwë's face betrayed none of whatever she was thinking.

"…so be it," she murmured passively. _But if that's what it takes to save my bodyguards, _she added silently, _I will destroy anyone that tries to stop me._

That evening they called the real 7th Heaven and checked in. Ayame was in a towering temper because she had caught Amaya, Sakura, and Aki teaching Denzel how to play Rich Man Poor Man – and gambling with root beer and breath mints. The offenders had been put to work scrubbing the entire bar, washing all the dishes, doing all the laundry, and cooking dinner for the entire crew as punishment. They were glad to get a break from their work to hear the news from the game world. Despite the information about Kazuki and his geostigma, everyone was cheered up by the fact that Tifa was alive and in her right mind (wherever she may be).

After hanging up, the trio decided to go to bed.

In the morning they would continue their journey towards the truth behind the mystery.

**A/N: This fic's on unofficial hiatus until further notice. Sorry guys, I'll work on it when I can, but I've been busy and really tired. **


	14. Chocobos and Pirate Kings

A/N: IT LIVES

**A/N: IT LIVES! Yes, yes, I'm very sorry I didn't break my hiatus until now. I was waiting to update until I played Crisis Core because there were some things I needed to know before I could continue with the plot of The Final Addition. Please forgive me. **

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Light filtered in through the dirty windows as the sun rose, waking Inwë from another night of fitful sleep. She was curled up on a blanket on the floor with her pack for a pillow, her wings still hidden under the black Organization coat. When the light hit her face she twitched and groggily opened her eyes. For a few minutes she lay unmoving while she pieced together her memories into a coherent thought: they were in the not-really Edge, at the not-really 7th Heaven. Inwë sat up and looked around. Cap'n was sprawled on a bench, her long tail twitching in her sleep. Mer had fallen asleep at the table where she and Cap'n had been discussing and rearranging their strategy last night. The trio had decided to ride hard for Cost del Sol and head straight for Tortuga where they had the best chances of finding the canon characters. Kazuki had volunteered to come along, but the idea had been firmly rejected. The young boy would be much safer in Edge than he would be on the road with three authoresses. They still didn't know what the creators of this not-canon were up to, or what they were willing to do to get rid of troublesome teenagers. Inwë sighed softly at the thought and stood, stretching. She let out an audible gasp at the pain flowing from her wings. Keeping them under the coat for so long was causing them to cramp. Inwë took one last look around the room before slipping off her coat and unfolding her wings. She only had her white dress shirt, tank top, and pants on underneath (which didn't trap heat as well as her coat) and she shivered in the sudden chill. She twisted her head around so she could examine the damage to her extra limbs. The dark grey feathers were ruffled and she bent the strange appendages so she could smooth them out. Her fingers tingled slightly when the touched the soft feathers and she quickly pulled her hand away.

"So _that's_ what's different about you." Inwë jumped and spun around. Kazuki was sitting on one of the bar stools, sipping a glass of milk and eyeing the authoress suspiciously. Inwë glanced at her Organization coat but figured it was too late to conceal her wings now.

"What's it to you?" Inwë snapped a little more harshly than she had intended to. Kazuki wasn't put out by her tone.

"Doesn't matter to me. I just thought people only got ears and tails and stuff like your friends did," he replied. Inwë sighed and calmed down, peering at her comrades to see if the conversation had woken them up yet. Cap'n was stirring and Mer wasn't far behind her. Inwë shook her head and rotated her wing joints a little before folding her wings and putting her coat back on. She's just finished adjusting it to her liking when Cap'n opened her eyes and blinked drowsily at the other authoress and Kazuki.

"Good morning," she yawned as she stretched and scratched behind her catlike ears. Inwë went and got her a glass of milk to help wake her up. After gulping it down, the pirate yawned again and watched as Mer came out of her doze and joined them in the land of the living.

"What's for breakfast?" Mer asked immediately. Inwë and Cap'n exchanged glances and started searching the bar for something to eat. They managed to find some bread, cheese, and eggs in the refrigerator. Cap'n volunteered to cook while Mer and Inwë fine-tuned their plans to travel to Costa del Sol.

"We'll need transportation of some kind," Mer pointed out. Inwë drummed her fingers on the table and pondered the problem of vehicles.

"A guy down the street rents chocobos," Kazuki informed them sourly. Inwë's face lit up while Mer and Cap'n gave her confused looks. Cap'n had heard of chocobos but was a bit skeptical about riding one.

"Thanks, Kazuki. We may just rent ourselves some chocobos…" Inwë murmured half to herself.

"What's a chocobo?" Mer asked blankly. Inwë quickly explained about the giant birds and how they were used as beasts of burden in the worlds of _Final Fantasy_. Cap'n listened as she dished up eggs and toast and sat down with her friends to eat. By the time they had agreed to rent three chocobos for their ride to Costa del Sol, their plates were clean and Kazuki looked like he was going to fall asleep from boredom. The clock on the wall said it was eight in the morning and the trio thought it was a good time to take their leave.

"Will Kazuki be all right by himself?" Mer asked as the three of them began gathering their packs and weapons. Inwë glanced over her shoulder at the small boy who was eyeing them mournfully.

"He'll be fine. Johnny will look after him and there's gil in the cash register if he needs to buy food," she replied without much concern. She didn't really approve of burrowing money from the not-really 7th Heaven's register, but seeing as Johnny was drugged there weren't many options. It wasn't as if anyone was going to use the money.

"Can't I come with you?" Kazuki whined loudly as Cap'n opened the door and stepped out into the sunlight. The teenagers sighed deeply.

"_No_. You're safe here. Besides, it'll be easier to find you when we leave if you stay in one place," Cap'n answered slowly. The boy did not look happy, but he didn't protest when the girls left the bar and shut the door behind them. Inwë waved at the window and smiled encouragingly as Kazuki appeared and waved back. _We'll come here again. I promise,_ Inwë thought silently. She knew her friends shared the sentiment.

The chocobo breeder in Edge was a burly man in his early sixties, a cousin of the chocobo breeders who lived near the Golden Saucer. He kept a watchful eye on the trio as he took their gil and handed them the reins of three yellow chocobos. Inwë hopped on first with minimal loss of balance. She'd never actually ridden a chocobo before but didn't think it could be much harder than riding a horse. It took her a moment to figure out how to sit without sliding off, but once she settled into the saddle she relaxed a bit. She turned her head to check on Mer and Cap'n's progress. Both of them were having difficulty dealing with their tails. Sitting on a chair is one thing, but balancing in a leather saddle on a moving animal was a different story. Inwë began to wonder if there wasn't some advantage to having wings instead of a tail and ears. Unlikely.

* * *

Costa del Sol was primarily a resort town. It was bustling with people when the trio arrived just as the sun was starting to set. Inwë was honestly surprised it had taken so little time to get there. The last time she'd gone to Costa del Sol it had taken a few days of sailing (with Rufus Shinra aboard of all people, but that was another story entirely). Still, it was a relief to be in civilization again after a long day on the rode. Chocobos had a weird, bouncy gait similar to a horse's trot that was uncomfortable after a few miles. By the time the teenagers had ridden to the local inn, they were sore and tired.

"We'll have to search the city for canon characters tonight," Inwë said with an apprehensive look at the darkening sky as she halted and jumped off her chocobo. Cap'n and Mer groaned.

"_Tonight_? Won't they still be here tomorrow?" Mer sighed unhappily. Inwë nodded grimly.

"The not-canon might find out we're here and try to hide the canon characters if we wait too long."

"Can't waste time, then," Cap'n agreed. "Do you think James or Will are here?"

"Possibly," Inwë said bleakly.

"Hopefully," Mer added with a smile. The three hastily handed their chocobos to a startled man who had come out to greet them. Cap'n gave him some money and arranged for rooms for the night, not entirely sure if they'd even be back before dawn. Fortunately, Costa del Sol was not a very large town and it couldn't take more than a few hours to search it. Inwë led the way because she knew the area best. The city was starting to quiet down as the sunbathers and tourists went back to their hotels, but soon the town's nightlife would begin to show itself. They didn't want to be caught outside too late after dark – Costa del Sol _did_ have some pretty rough neighborhoods – so they hurried along as fast as they dared. Asking for directions would be useless considering the number of canon characters who had been kidnapped, so instead they spent their time doing a street-by-street sweep of the area. No familiar faces appeared. It was discouraging and the authoresses began to wonder if the mission was hopeless.

At that point, as often happens in cheap fanfictions but never in real life, the trio rounded a corner and spotted someone they knew: Elizabeth Swann.

Suffice it to say that the girls were not thrilled by this discovery. Inwë was especially annoyed at running into someone she _didn't_ want to save from the evil minions of not-canon. Mer and Cap'n were only slightly more enthusiastic, mostly for the sake of Will and Norrington. Elizabeth, on the other hand, looked relieved.

"Thank goodness! Have you found Will?" she asked immediately after sprinting up to the teenagers.

"Hello to you too, Lizzie," Inwë murmured dryly. Elizabeth ignored her. Instead she turned to Mer expectantly. The authoress looked uncomfortable and mumbled something about how they hadn't saved Will yet. Disappointed, Elizabeth backtracked and started asking more substantial questions.

"What is this place? How did you get in? I woke up here a few days ago but no one seems to know who I am," the young woman complained. Cap'n explained the situation in as few words as possible, which still took several minutes. Inwë took the time to observe the alley they were in. It was deserted except for a peddler selling trinkets and good luck charms to nonexistent passersby. Deciding that the peddler probably wasn't a spy from the not-canon, Inwë relaxed and listened to the end of Cap'n's speech. Elizabeth was obviously shocked by the information.

"So Father…and Will…they won't recognize me?" she said in a high-pitched voice.

"We're not so sure about Will," Mer replied coolly. "A few people seem to be able to resist this drug."

"What's the last thing you remember before you came here?" Inwë inquired. Elizabeth thought for a moment.

"I recall someone coming for tea…after that I don't know. Perhaps my guest slipped something into my tea?"

"Describe the visitor," Cap'n piped up, interested in this news.

"A young woman who said she was from one of the American colonies. She had red hair and odd amber eyes."

"Inari, I'll bet," Inwë muttered. Just who was that woman? She kept showing up as a central figure in the kidnappings. Yoko had said the leader of the not-canon was a man, but maybe Inari was a powerful member of the group. Inwë wished she could find out more. Kicking at a pebble by her shoe, the authoress stuffed her hands in her pockets and eyed the ground pensively. Mer and Cap'n were quickly asking Elizabeth if she'd seen any of the other canon characters in Costa del Sol, adding descriptions of the _Final Fantasy_ characters just to be safe. The young woman hadn't seen anyone she knew since her arrival and the trio highly doubted they'd get any more useful information out of her. That left the question of what to do next.

"I say we spend the night here and then head for Tortuga in the morning," Inwë suggested.

"What do we do with Lizzie?" Cap'n asked grimly, nodding to Elizabeth. The teenagers exchanged glances. None of them really wanted to add more people to their group, and on top of that Inwë harbored a personal grudge against Elizabeth that would cause problems if they had to travel together.

"It might be better if she stays here," Mer said. "Like we told Kazuki, it'll be easier to help everyone later on if we know where they are." The three looked at Elizabeth to see if she would protest, but she only nodded.

"I understand. If you find Will, please send him back here," the governor's daughter requested meekly. Inwë eyed her warily. Something felt off, but she wasn't sure what. Cap'n and Mer exchanged glances; they too had sensed that things weren't quite right.

"…All right. We'll send any canon characters we find to stay with you," Mer said slowly. Inwë and Cap'n nodded. Elizabeth's face brightened but she didn't smile.

"Splendid. Now, if you intend to leave in the morning then you should get some rest. There's a ship that sails to Tortuga at dawn, it's the only pirate ship in the harbor," Elizabeth told them flatly. Inwë raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? And what will the voyage cost us? Can we trust these pirates?" she demanded. A smirk tugged at the corner of Elizabeth's mouth but didn't remain for long.

"Only about one hundred gil per person. The pirates are more interested in money than hostages, so you should be fine," Elizabeth replied smoothly. Inwë still didn't like the situation but she didn't say anything. The trio bid Elizabeth good day and wound their way back to their hotel. On the way, they talked about the encounter with Lizzie.

"Something's not right with her," Cap'n sighed as she stepped out of the way to avoid a couple that was hurrying towards a local bar.

"The drug could have affected her mind. We don't know what kind of side effects it has," Mer added thoughtfully. Inwë glanced over her shoulder and wondered what exactly they were getting themselves into.

* * *

Elizabeth walked down the dark alley and paused as she heard footsteps. She looked behind her. A hooded figure strode down the narrow road towards her and stopped. Gleaming amber eyes appeared from the shadows of the hood. Elizabeth returned their gaze with glazed eyes.

"What did you find out?" the woman in the cloak asked in a low voice. Elizabeth, eyes still glazed, turned towards her and began to recount everything she had heard Cap'n, Inwë, and Mer say. Her tone was flat like a robot's and her face betrayed no emotion. The other woman listened to her speak without comment. When Elizabeth was finished, the other woman patted her on the shoulder.

"Good job. Looks like this drug works better than we anticipated," the woman said half to herself, dismissing Elizabeth with a wave and watching her leave. The time difference between the not-canon and the real world was helpful in refining the drug they'd given to the canon characters. Soon they'd even be able to figure out how to get around the weird immunity some of the characters had. The woman smiled thinly. Oh yes, soon enough they'd be in total control. It was only a matter of time.

"Having fun?" asked a voice from the roof of one of the buildings. The woman looked up in annoyance and spotted one of her comrades, a young man with silver hair pulled into a ponytail and a jagged scar that ran from his left ear all the way down to his chin. He grinned at her wolfishly and jumped to the ground with the agility of a cat. The woman glared at him coolly.

"Costa del Sol isn't in your jurisdiction. What are you doing so far from home?" she asked. The man laughed, a sound almost like a growl.

"I get so tired of Nibelheim sometimes, you know? The cold weather doesn't agree with me." The woman scoffed.

"Did our lord send you to keep tabs on me?" she said disdainfully. Her comrade shrugged.

"He's concerned that you're not focusing on the task at hand," he replied diplomatically. "You've been…distracted. He wants to make sure your personal vendetta won't ruin our plans."

"_My_ vendetta? What about his? He's been going on and on for years about how this plan will avenge us all!" the woman snarled.

"Only if we stick to it. Right now you're endangering us all." The man sighed and started to vanish into one of the portals he and the other members of the group had learned to use. The woman scowled but didn't attempt to stop. She was already withdrawing into thoughtful silence. If she was going to make her own plans work and still help the greater good of her organization, she would have to work fast. If she didn't find what she was looking for by the time the three authoresses left Tortuga, she would have to give up. She angrily pulled a throwing knife from one of the many hidden weapon slots in her cloak and sent it flying into the nearest door.

She wouldn't fail. She'd waited ten years for this, and no interfering teenagers or orders from her boss were going to get in her way.

* * *

**A/N: I apologize for the shortness of this chapter and the unreasonably fast pace of events. My muse wants me to write the next chapter, so I wanted to get this one out of the way before my muse disappeared again.**


	15. Freedom Has Its Price

**A/N: This chapter might be a bit…how do I put this without bringing Sweeney Todd to mind…violent? I swear on pain of flames I'll not go a word over the T for Teen rating (more like a strong PG, close to Narnia), but I felt obligated to let you know beforehand. Oh, and there's some brief mild language of a PG nature, too. **

* * *

Inwë didn't like the look of the storm clouds forming over Tortuga when the old pirate ship limped into the harbor a few hours before sunset. The captain, a burly middle-aged man with missing teeth and multiple scars crisscrossing his face, informed them that the weather would be taking a turn for the worse and they would do well to stay indoors that night. Mer and Cap'n were far from worried. The sight of Tortuga had placed permanent grins on their faces. They had both convinced themselves that Will, Norrington, and the salvation of canon rested on the immoral shoulders of the town. Inwë was trying not to be so optimistic, and the darkening sky wanted to help. The authoress had a very bad feeling about this part of the journey. She couldn't place it. Her companions didn't seem uneasy and Inwë was beginning to wonder if her physical illness was starting to get to her head. She'd been sick for the entire trip from Costa del Sol, but her stomach had finally settled and her cough and fever had subsided. Another call to the 7th Heaven in the real canon had put to rest their fears of a second attack on the remaining canon characters, but it hadn't made Inwë feel any better.

"You ok?" Mer asked suddenly as Inwë leaned on the ship railing and frowned at the rolling waves around the docks. The wind picked up and Inwë pulled up her hood to stop her hair from becoming hopelessly tangled. When Mer spoke, she blinked and pulled herself together. Paranoia wouldn't get her anywhere.

"Sorry. I was thinking about the weather," she replied.

"Bleak. Very bleak," Cap'n quoted gravely, strutting past them in an imitation of Norrington. Mer giggled and Inwë managed a smile. Just then the captain walked by and raised an eyebrow at the girls.

"No smiles 'ere anymore, missies. Weird happenings 'round these parts make even Tortuga a gloomy port these days," he grunted. The grins slid off the trio's faces and they glanced back at the docks. It did seem rather quiet for the rowdy pirate town. Shouts and an occasional peal of drunken laughter drifted out to the ship, but it was subdued. There was a heaviness in the air that had nothing to do with the approaching storm.

Once they got onto the docks, Inwë scanned the streets with narrowed eyes. She had been to Tortuga only a few times before and left the navigation to Cap'n. A fraction of the usual crowd was drifting around to the various establishments in the area. The loudest noise they heard was an alarmed shout when a man tripped over a passed out pirate. There were no gunshots, not raucous cheers and jeers, not even a dog barking. People spoke in hushed voices and looked away when they saw the three girls walk deeper into the town. Mer craned her neck as they passed a solemn pirate crew.

"You'd think the Navy was coming to arrest them all or something," the teenager said in exasperation.

"Maybe they are. Who knows what the not-canon has been telling everyone?" Cap'n replied sadly. Inwë didn't say anything. She was busy looking around for possible signs of her bodyguards or Norrington. While she was looking, she spotted a man standing in a doorway. He nodded to her when she looked his way and beckoned her over. Inwë pointed him out to Mer and Cap'n and the three drifted over to talk. The man was about seventy with thinning hair and a missing eye. He kept glancing over his shoulder at the bar entrance behind him and seemed reluctant to speak with the trio for more than a few minutes.

"Who're you?" Inwë asked the man suspiciously. He peered around the all but deserted street and cleared his throat.

"Call me Thomas. I'm the bartender here at the _Stolen Gold_," he answered, jerking his thumb at the sign over the door.

"What do you want?" Cap'n asked, folding her arms and eying Thomas critically. Thomas shifted his weight from foot to foot and searched the road for eavesdroppers again.

"You're not from 'round here, are ye? I figured ye might know somethin' about the goings-on in the town. Something's not right, aye? This 'World Collision' they talk about, it's crazy it is," he said.

"Actually, we're just trying to find some friends," Inwë replied with a definite look of disappointment on her face. She had been hoping that the man had news about the canon characters. Judging from the downcast expressions Mer and Cap'n were wearing, they thought the same thing. The man shrugged.

"Ye have my apologies, then. I hope ye find what ye're searchin' for," Thomas sighed deeply. The girls turned to go, but something made Inwë stop. She turned around and narrowed her eyes.

"Have you seen anyone strange around here lately? I'm looking for some people and you'd know them if you'd seen them. One's tall with black hair and a red cape, one's shorter with spiky blond hair, and one's got bright red hair and red tattoos on his cheekbones." To Inwë's surprise, Thomas nodded vigorously.

"Oh, aye. I hired a redheaded fellow like that just a week ago to be a bouncer. He sat around all day drinking and started half the fights we had. Left two days ago, said he was bored with the job," Thomas replied. Inwë was stunned. Finally she had a lead. Mer and Cap'n looked significantly happier as well at the idea that Reno was alive and kicking somewhere – if he wasn't drugged, of course.

"Do you know where he is now? Did he have anyone else with him?" Cap'n asked excitedly.

"He's at an inn at the center o' the town, name o' _The Fallen Sparrow_. He had two friends: a dark-haired swordsman that he called 'Turner' and a bald man with odd spectacles. Real quiet type, that one. I hear they're all bouncers at the _Sparrow_ now. Aye," Thomas added with a vicious grin, "and I hope they give ol' Burton twice the trouble they gave me." Inwë thanked Thomas for his time and rushed off with Cap'n and Mer (who barely managed to contain a squeal of joy when she heard Will was in Tortuga).

They spent hours searching the deep inner part of Tortuga for the tavern Thomas had told them about. Few on the streets were willing to talk to them, and those who were didn't know of any inn called _The Fallen Sparrow_. It was now officially dark out and a cold drizzle was falling. Mist was rolling in from the sea, turning the wayward roads of Tortuga into a maze. Once or twice they almost got separated from one another in the fog. By the time they finally spotted their query, all three of them were tired and eager to get out of the rain. They hurried to the door of the bar, their feet making loud slapping sounds on the wet ground, and shoved it open. Inside was a cozy building. Soft oil lamps burned on the walls and a chandelier hung from the low ceiling, casting warm light on the room. There was a long bar on the right side of the room, countered by tables and chairs on the left. Business must have been slow that evening because only three or four people were huddled around tables or slumped over the bar. The bartender, Burton, looked up as the girls entered and scowled.

"Unless you've got money you're not allowed to drink, you hear me?" he snapped at them. "Oi, bouncer! Get these women out of here. I don't tolerate freeloaders." A man at the end of the bar sat up a little straighter in his chair and sighed.

"Cool it, old guy. Let 'em get outta the rain for a bit," he answered in a bored voice. Inwë recognized him immediately. He had unruly red hair that was short and spiked on top and ended in a long ponytail in the back. Twin tattoos ran across his cheekbones and bright sea green eyes swept across the room restlessly. He still had his Turk uniform on, as unkempt as ever. When he spotted Inwë he blinked a few times and stared at the bottle of beer in his hand.

"I gotta stop drinkin' this stuff, it's makin' me see things."

"Reno!" Inwë said a little too loudly, running a few steps and skidding to a halt in front of him. At the mention of his name he looked up from his drink. For a startled moment he just stared at Inwë as if he couldn't believe she was there. Then he smiled.

"Just look what the cat dragged in. Yo, Turner! You've got company," Reno half shouted to a man sitting at one of the tables. Sure enough, William Turner was there. It took Mer a record half-second to launch herself across the room and give her favorite pet/friend/thing a hug. The brunette pushed her off with difficulty and tolerated her anxious questions with little grumbling. Cap'n made sure Will's eyes were normal and gave Inwë a thumbs-up to let her know that the swordsman wasn't drugged. Inwë relaxed and sat down in the bar stool next to Reno. It was then that she noticed Rude sitting in the chair on Reno's left. The Turk was slumped forward in his seat and didn't seem to be aware of anything around him. The dim light made it hard to tell for sure, but his face looked badly bruised and he was sporting a nasty cut across his head.

"What happened to you guys?" Inwë asked her bodyguard. Reno followed her gaze and the smile slid off his face. He didn't answer right away, instead taking a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and lighting one.

"Rude and I were at the local bar. Some guys showed up and told us to come with 'em or else. Half got knocked out cold in the first thirty seconds, thanks to yours truly," Reno explained. He took a sip of his beer and glanced at Rude again. Inwë couldn't remember the last time she'd seen her bodyguard look so tired and worried.

"Anyways," Reno continued after he set the bottle back on the counter, "The second wave was a bit rougher. Me 'n' Rude can handle most enemies, but these guys were _good_. They had us outnumbered four to one with more waiting outside. We got worn out after a while. Rude went down first."

"How bad is he?"

"It's a miracle that he lived through it. If I hadn't had a Cure materia on me we might've lost him," Reno replied quietly before he lit his cigarette. Inwë bit her lip. She was really starting to hate the people who ran the not-canon. Attempted murder of a Turk was a serious enough crime to land someone on her Hit List of Doom.

"Are you injured, Reno? You shouldn't be smoking if you are. Besides, you said you'd already quit," the authoress scolded to change the subject. Reno gave her a look.

"I just watched my best friend get beaten half to death. Cut me some slack," he said bitterly. Inwë nodded mutely and turned around in her chair, not wanting to bother her friend anymore with bad memories. Cap'n and Mer were chatting brightly with Will. Right now they were explaining their ears and tails to the overwhelmed man. Inwë sighed. Part of her wanted to tell Reno about her wings, but she decided against it. There was no use in overcomplicating things.

"How did you end up here?" she asked instead, leaning back against the counter and folding her arms across her chest.

"I don't really remember. I was unconscious for most of it. I woke up in Edge about a week or two ago; Rude was there too. They gave him some kinda drug and he hasn't reacted well to it." Reno sighed and finished his drink. Under normal circumstances, Inwë would have nagged him about alcohol and tobacco abuse, but she didn't think now was the best time. He'd been through enough.

"I saw Tseng in Junon. He's resisting the drug a bit but not as well as you have. He says we have to rescue Rufus from these people," the authoress told Reno carefully. The redhead gave Inwë an alarmed look and put out his cigarette in the ashtray on the counter.

"Tseng and 'Lena are here? And _Rufus_? Damn, we'll never hear the end of it now. Rufus is gonna be _real_ mad when he finds out we're all here and haven't saved him yet!" Reno exclaimed. He shook his head sadly and cracked a grin. Inwë managed a chuckle. Reno could make her laugh about almost anything, but right now things were a little too serious to joke about them. Only one Turk out of four had resisted this mystery drug. If those odds applied to all the canon characters, they had a problem on their hands.

"So what do we do?" Inwë asked. "We don't know where these people work from -."

"The Void."

"Excuse me?"

"Their base is in an area called the Void. It's on the northern continent. I heard some guys talking about it at the last bar we worked at," Reno added when he saw Inwë's blank stare. The young authoress frowned as she thought. She remembered now. The Void was on the map she and the others had borrowed in Port Royal. When she'd asked the innkeeper about it, he wouldn't answer. Maybe they were closer to their goal than they thought. If they could get to the Void with as much back up as possible, they stood a fair chance of defeating the not-canon. Just then Reno shifted in his chair and winced. He paled and Inwë hastily jumped up and put a hand on his shoulder for support.

"You don't look so good," she told him. Reno smiled and pushed her hand away.

"I'm all right. Couple cracked ribs, nothing too serious. Not compared to Rude," he added with a pointed nod at his friend. Inwë glared at him and sat down again once she was sure he wasn't going to fall out of his chair.

"Didn't you use the Cure materia on yourself?" she asked tersely. The redhead laughed darkly.

"Whoever knocked me out took all the materia I had, too. Lucky for me, I blacked out fast. If I had Rude's stamina they probably would've killed me."

"Don't say that," Inwë said softly. Reno titled his head to one side and studied her briefly before smirking again.

"Ah, don't get all depressed. I'm not dead and I have no intention of dying anytime soon, okay?" he said teasingly. The authoress sulked. The pair lapsed into silence for a while and listened to Mer and Cap'n's vivid retelling of their adventure so far. Sounds of normal conversation and laughter had a soothing effect on Inwë and she found herself smiling with the others. Something still bothered her, though. She felt like she'd forgotten something. It came to her after a moment: Reno hadn't said anything about Inari. That was odd. Unless…

"Hey, Reno?" the authoress asked. The Turk tore his attention away from Cap'n's comic imitation of a chocobo and stared at Inwë quizzically. She hesitated. The last thing she wanted to do was drag up a painful memory – Reno had plenty of those already – when she wasn't even sure if it was important or not.

"Did you see a woman with red hair and amber eyes when you got captured?" she inquired after a moment. Reno squinted at the far wall and racked his brain.

"Nope. Just a bunch o' ninja and these weird smoke things," Reno said. "There _was_ a guy with silver hair that acted like their leader, but I didn't see any women around."

"You sure about that?"

"Val, it's _me_ we're talkin' about. I would've noticed if there was a girl hanging around." Inwë held back any snide remark she would have usually made, instead rubbing her forehead and thinking carefully. Her original assumption had been that this Inari person had been put in charge of capturing all the canon characters. Now there was another enemy to worry about: the silver haired man Reno had spotted. That made four members of the not-canon group for sure, plus their underlings and the Shadows that hadn't made much of an appearance yet. Their odds kept getting worse and worse.

Suddenly, Mer and Cap'n stiffened. Their ears swiveled around as they each listened to something outside. Inwë, Reno, and Will sat bolt upright in their chairs and began reaching for their weapons. Rude stayed where he was, completely oblivious to whatever had spooked the others.

"What's wrong?" Inwë whispered as she slowly stood and started to unsheathe her katana. Mer held a hand up for silence. Everyone froze. Cap'n crept towards the front door and opened it a crack, peering out into the rainy gloom. She stood there for a few moments before gingerly shutting the door again and backing away.

"Someone's searching the buildings outside. They look like ninja," she breathed. "There's a woman with red hair with them." Inwë and Mer exchanged panicked looks and Reno swore.

"You kids gotta get outta here," he said unexpectedly. "Those guys are looking for us. They must've tracked you." Inwë gave him an alarmed look.

"What, you mean…?" She trailed off and stared at her bodyguard. The Turk nodded grimly.

"We left the last bar 'cause these people were lookin' for us. I dunno what they want, but you shouldn't be here when they arrive," he replied. He stood up quickly from his seat at the bar and motioned for the teenagers to follow him. Will got up too and hovered by a window, keeping an eye on the ninja's progress. The trio hurried after Reno and stopped by the back door of the tavern. The redhead opened it. Outside was a small yard filled with garbage and old lumber. Beyond it lay other houses and bars in the area, which provided good cover for an escape. The three girls stepped out into the rain and turned, waiting expectantly for Reno, Will, and Rude to come. The redhead stayed where he was. He had a weird expression on his face. It took Inwë a second to realize why.

"Reno, you have to come with us!" she exclaimed a little too loudly. Her friends shushed her and craned their necks to check the area for enemies. Mer abruptly darted forward to get back inside.

"No! Get outta here!" Reno snapped, grabbing her arm and shoving her towards the yard.

"But Will's in there. We can't leave without Will," the teenager replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Reno ran a hand through his messy hair and muttered something under his breath.

"You idiots. If we leave, they'll chase us. If you leave, they're not gonna troop out in this weather lookin' for ya. Got it?" Inwë shook her head and glared at her bodyguard.

"I don't care!" she cried angrily. "Turks don't leave their friends behind to die!" Reno shot her a look.

"And leavin' Rude here would be different…how?" he scoffed. Inwë shut her mouth. The redhead shook his head and sighed. "C'mon, you know we could never get away if me 'n' Turner had to carry Rude. Plus, small groups are harder to track."

"Then we'll all stay and fight," Inwë replied darkly, gripping her katana hilt and blinking water out of her eyes. Mer and Cap'n drew their own weapons and started forward with obvious intentions of joining the battle whether or not Will and Reno liked it. Just then they heard a loud _BANG_ as something heavy and wooden crashed against the front door of the bar. Reno glanced over his shoulder but didn't leave to help Will fight. He looked back at the three fuming authoresses and snorted.

"Geez, you're all persistent. Val, come here for a sec." Inwë, startled, obediently walked forward. Reno tugged at something around his neck and put it in the teenager's hand. Inwë didn't get a good look at it, but her fingers curled around something warm and metallic. Before she could observe it in the dim light, Reno grabbed her chin and tilted her head upwards so she was looking him in the eye.

"Give that to Tseng, so he knows what happened," Reno said softly.

"But -!"

"Hate to do this to ya, Val," the Turk added with a cocky grin, "but there's no way around it. This might sting a bit." Inwë's eyes widened as she sensed magic gathering in the area.

"Reno, wait! You can't fight by yourself!" she protested desperately at the last second. Reno's smile wavered and turned into something closer to a grimace.

"Watch me." With that, bolts of electricity shot from his hand into Inwë. She gasped and lost her footing in the mud, toppling backwards. Mer and Cap'n managed to catch her before she fell over completely. She twitched slightly and appeared to be unconscious. Mer stared at her in horror and quickly glanced back up at Reno.

"W-what -?"

"I don't need materia to cast Lightning magic," he replied flatly. "She'll be fine in a few minutes. Now get her out of here." He turned on his heel and slammed the door shut. Cap'n heard him slide the bolt into place. She and Mer stared helplessly at the thick wooden door. If they wanted to get back into the bar, they would have to go through all the enemies at the main entrance.

"What should we do?" Mer asked no one in particular. Cap'n curled her free hand into a fist and growled furiously.

"We'll do as he said. We can't do much with Inwë like this, and if we try to get back inside we'll be more of a hindrance than anything," she replied bleakly. Mer swallowed thickly and thought of Will. He was a master swordsman, but how long would he last if it came to a siege? She didn't want to lose him after she'd just found out he was safe. Cap'n was thinking along similar lines, but she knew they had no choice. If Reno and Will were going to stay behind to give them a chance to flee, then it would be wrong to waste it.

"Here, help me carry Inwë," Cap'n sighed unhappily, lifting one of the stunned girl's arms. Mer helped her and together they started moving towards the shacks and the dearly bought hope of escape.

* * *

In the bar, Reno walked back to his seat with his hands in his pockets and his head down. Inwë and her friends were stubborn. He just hoped they wouldn't try to break in and join the fight. Shaking his head sadly, the Turk sat down at one of the tables and put his feet up. He glanced at Turner. The swordsman had barred the front door and was watching it slowly splinter under the relentless attacks of a battering ram. It wasn't going to hold for much longer and they both knew it. Reno vaguely wished he had grabbed another bottle of beer, but the bartender had disappeared into the back room and wouldn't emerge again until things quieted down. The redhead smirked. Oh no, things were going to be far from quiet. He planned to give these not-canon punks a real taste of hell.

"Relax, Turner. Nothin' scares people more than a calm opponent," he chided the jittery swordsman. Will glared at him and brushed his brunette hair out of his eyes.

"Laze about if you want, but I won't let my guard down for a moment," he said. Reno shrugged and lit a cigarette for himself. He was slowly readjusting to the bad habit. After he'd started working for Inwë, he had tried to cut down since he didn't like to listen to her whine about secondhand smoke and lung cancer. He had almost quit, too, but then all this had happened. Now he didn't really care. Turks didn't usually live long enough to die of cancer anyway.

Before Reno could finish his train of thought or his cigarette, the door finally cracked and burst open. Four men in black ninja uniforms swept into the room and sized up Will and the redheaded Turk. Reno sighed and crushed his cigarette on the wooden table, leaving an ugly burn mark. He stood up and winced as his sore ribs protested. That would be troublesome. Oh well. He pulled his EMR (electromagnetic rod) out of his pocket and flicked it open, listening to the satisfying _click_ that meant it was locked in place and wouldn't collapse on him during a fight. Reno moved so he was between the four ninja and Rude, a gloating smile on his face.

"Yo."

"Hello yourself," snapped a female voice from the doorway. Reno shifted his gaze and regarded the newcomer. A tall woman with bright red hair and amber eyes stepped over the threshold. Twin kodachi, a type of Japanese short sword, were her only weapons. When she saw Reno, her face split into a feral grin. Reno raised an eyebrow.

"Do I know you?" he asked coolly. The woman laughed unpleasantly.

"I'm Inari. You wouldn't remember me, but we're _very_ close. Like family, you might say," she answered with a sneer. Reno blinked at her. He wasn't sure if she was being cryptic or just trying to faze him. Will looked a little uneasy, but he didn't say anything.

"Family, huh? Sorry, kid, but I'm not real close with my family," Reno replied, tapping his EMR on his shoulder and watching Inari for any signs of a possible attack. She tipped her head to one side and let the grin fade slightly.

"Apparently not. It doesn't matter to me. I've waited ten years to kill you." Inari's subordinates looked at her in surprise and slight confusion and started muttering about their mission. The woman silenced them with a look. Reno's smirk broadened. It seemed there was a conflict of orders here. Interesting.

"I'm flattered. What'd I do to deserve such devotion?" he inquired smoothly. Inari's face abruptly twisted into a snarl.

"You exist! If you weren't around, I wouldn't have been created at all!" she spat.

"Shouldn't you be thankin' me, then?" Inari gripped her twin swords more tightly and narrowed her eyes.

"Living in hell makes you wish you weren't living at all," she said in a dangerously low voice. Without warning, she lunged forward and slashed at Reno. He quickly brought his EMR up to block but didn't have time to dodge the second sword. It scraped against his already battered ribs. Gritting his teeth against the pain, Reno twisted around and aimed a kick at Inari. She danced out of the way and countered with another combo attack. Meanwhile, Will had engaged the four ninja. He held his own quite well, managing to wound two of them and drive the other two back outside. One of them cursed and whistled shrilly. Suddenly, ten Shadows – each looking uncannily like a Heartless version of some poor soul in the area – appeared out of the fog and launched themselves at Will. They knocked him over and he hit his head on the pavement, instantly rendering him unconscious. Reno saw him go down and swore under his breath. The Shadows and ninja were turning their attention to him now, and a few were eying Rude. Sure, attack the only guy who _can't_ fight back. The Turk looked back at his opponent. Inari, too, had noticed her comrades' approach. She paused in mid attack and scowled at them.

"Stay back! This is _my_ fight!" she yelled. Her subordinates stopped moving forward and stayed by the doorway. Reno laughed dryly. This girl was underestimating him if she thought a few interfering ninja could defeat him. He flinched as sharp pain flashed across his ribs again. All right, maybe they would make a difference in the battle. He brushed these thoughts aside and dodged out of Inari's way as she spun at him with another attack. Reno tried to hit her with his EMR but missed, stumbling past her a foot or two and getting a cut across his shoulders for his trouble. It hurt, and he wondered why he was so clumsy all of a sudden. It irked him. Turks usually finished off their enemies faster than this.

"What's wrong? Getting tired in your old age?" Inari giggled mirthlessly. Reno would have rolled his eyes if he could afford to take them off the battle. Inari rushed forward and stabbed at him with on sword, bringing the other one down in a wide arch towards his head. Reno ducked away from the blow to his head, the other sword cutting his side a little more deeply than he would have liked. He danced out of the way and almost tripped over an overturned chair. His breath was coming a little more raggedly now. Then he figured it out: Inari was wearing him down by moving at a very high speed when she attacked. Reno, who was used to moving quickly, had been keeping up with her. The effort was damaging his body without being noticeable. He cursed. This was going to be a long fight.

Reno and Inari dueled for almost twenty minutes. The Turk soon fell into a steady pattern of block, dodge, and attack, each movement repeated over and over again. Inari's strategy to wear him out was effective. Reno quickly began losing focus as he struggled to keep up the pace and still accommodate his cracked ribs and other injuries. Inari seemed more interested in beating him up than killing or capturing him, so as the fight dragged on Reno only managed to acquire more minor wounds. The four ninja and the Shadows they had summoned all stood quietly by the entrance, not getting involved in the fight but still preventing his escape. The Turk resented this type of battle. He didn't like being toyed with – and as much as he wanted to deny it, that was what Inari was doing. By fifteen minutes in, Reno was ready to collapse. His ribs were more than cracked now thanks to a few kicks from his opponent. Blood ran down the side of his face from a cut across his temple, and more from a split lip. His right eye was swollen enough to make him squint. Panting, he staggered back a pace and glared at Inari. She wasn't without injuries herself. That pretty face of hers was bruised and she was going to be sore for a week. Despite that, she looked elated and hadn't slowed down since she'd started fighting. When Reno backed off she let out a triumphant peal of laughter.

"You're a real disappointment. I thought the man who single-handedly obliterated Sector 7 would be a little tougher," she cooed. Reno spat out some blood and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. People who knew him well knew better than to mention Sector 7 around him if they didn't want trouble. Inari would have to learn that the hard way. Then again, Reno wasn't entirely sure he could muster the energy to fight anymore.

"Don't lecture me about things you don't know anything about," he replied tersely. Inari grinned. She was obviously enjoying this.

"Then don't _you_ tell me to shut up unless you can make me be quiet," she said. She rushed forward abruptly and brought her sword down. Reno barely managed to bring up his EMR, but he still got slashed across the chest. He grunted in pain and crashed into a table and chair, sending them flying as he hit the ground. His head smashed against a chair leg and he rolled onto his back, stunned. Reno's vision swam as his head throbbed angrily; also, he was fairly certain he had just sprained or broken one of his ankles. Inari kicked his EMR out of his hand and stared down at him with a toothy leer.

"Aww, look at the poor Turk now. He got beat up by a little girl from Midgar. How pathetic," she snickered. Reno was dazed, but he still pulled off a smirk.

"Gimme my EMR back and we'll see about that," he coughed. Inari's eyes narrowed and she kicked him hard in the ribs. The Turk heard and felt something break and the force of the kick sent him onto his stomach. He found himself staring at Inari's shoes. With a soft groan of pain he tried to get up, but his limbs gave out on him and he only managed to prop himself up on one hand. Sea green eyes glared into amber ones as he watched Inari lift her kodachi. The game was over now.

"Too bad for you, Reno. You put up a good fight," Inari sighed in mock regret. Reno gritted his teeth and braced himself for the killing blow. His eyes never left Inari's, defiance still burning in their depths. If this was death, he supposed it could be worse.

"Inari! What are you doing?" someone shouted from the entrance. Inari and Reno were both startled at the interruption. A man with short brown hair and large blue eyes swept past the four ninja and the Shadows. He appeared to be a few years older than Inari, maybe twenty-four or so, and didn't seem too pleased with the situation. Most interestingly of all, he was wearing a black Organization coat exactly like Inwë's. While Inari turned to face this new person, Reno looked for his EMR out of the corner of his eye. It was lying several feet to his left: too far away to grab without attracting attention. He sighed to himself and waited to see what would happen next.

"Don't try to get in my way, Ryota," Inari growled. "I've waited a long time for this." Ryota glowered at her. He surveyed the ruins of the bar without saying a word, but he looked far from happy. After a moment he turned back to Inari.

"I believe your orders were to _capture_ the fugitives, not kill them," he reminded her sternly.

"They resisted."

"So instead of using magic to catch them, you decided to kill them? Rather, one of them?" Ryota added, gesturing at Will and Rude. "It looks like these two don't have much fight in them." Inari lifted her twin kodachi threateningly.

"Ten years, Ryota. I've waited ten years. Now I have my chance for vengeance. Do you think I'll give it up?" she hissed.

"You're not thinking. If you just listen to orders for a few more days, you'll get your revenge for real," Ryota said calmly. "If you break away from the plan now, you'll lose your only chance." Inari chewed on her lower lip as she thought it over. Reno got ready to make a grab for his EMR. He didn't know who Inari was or why she wanted to kill him so badly, but if she snapped then he wanted to have a weapon in his hand when she attacked.

"All right," Inari grumbled. "I guess I can be patient." She sheathed her swords and allowed one of the ninja to bring her some water and bandages for her wounds. Ryota relaxed slightly and started issuing orders. It took him a moment to turn his attention to Reno. Ryota beckoned two of the ninja over. They hauled Reno to his feet, making the Turk grimace as his broken ankle dragged across the floor. Breathing heavily, he tried to remain as still as possible so he didn't put weight on his bad foot. Ryota shook his head sadly when he got a better look at the Turk's injuries.

"You're lucky I arrived when I did," he informed Reno with infuriating pity in his voice. "You don't look good at all."

"Is that right?" Reno asked sarcastically. His head really hurt and the room kept sliding in and out of focus. Ryota noticed and sighed in exasperation.

"Damn, Inari," he told the irate woman, "It seems you gave him a concussion."

"Wasn't me," she said shortly. "The idiot must've hit his head when he fell." Annoyed that the mission was in shambles, Ryota gave up on trying to talk sense into Inari and instead continued giving out orders. Reno watched as well as he good when his vision was so foggy. When a Shadow headed towards Rude, he vainly tried to get away from the men gripping his arms. He felt dizzy and sleepy now, but no concussion was going to stop him from protecting his friend.

"Calm down," Ryota told him sharply. "You'll hurt yourself, and my lord wants you _alive_." He stressed the last word for Inari's benefit. Reno chuckled weakly.

"I'm not lettin' you hurt my pal more than you already have," he snapped. There was that look again from Ryota, that mix of pity and respect. Reno hated him for it.

"No harm will come to your friends. You have my word," Ryota replied softly. Reno stared at him warily. No, he wasn't lying. There wasn't any reason to. If he wanted to stop Reno from trying to protect Rude, he could just hit him over the head and be done with it. The Turk nodded mutely to show he understood. Darkness started creeping into his field of sight and he felt tired. Looks like his concussion was a little worse than he thought. Slowly he slipped into oblivion. _Val, whatever you do,_ he thought to himself just as he passed out, _don't you dare come back for me._

* * *

**A/N: A darker chapter than usual. I'm afraid that trend will persist for the next chapter or two (possibly three, I don't know). Plot twists and swordfights ahead. Please review. I like reviews. **


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